


Heart & Fists

by RavenT2



Series: Street Fighter - Heart & Fists [1]
Category: Street Fighter
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crime Fighting, Drama, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Romantic Friendship, Street Fighter - Heart & Fists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29742771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenT2/pseuds/RavenT2
Summary: Someone has kidnapped Chun-Li's adopted daughter. And the brother she just learned she had. Now, to get them back and bring down their captors, she needs the help of one the strongest warriors she knows: Ryu. (Repost from my other fanfic site.)
Relationships: Cammy White & Chun-Li, Cammy White & Chun-Li & Ryu, Chun-Li & Mei (OC), Chun-Li & Ryu, Chun-Li/Ryu (Street Fighter), Ken Masters & Ryu (Street Fighter)
Series: Street Fighter - Heart & Fists [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186022
Comments: 13
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all! This is was one of my most popular stories and series I had ever done on FanFic net. I started it on 04/23/2012 and finished it on 06/15/2012. The whole series is one of my proudest accomplishments and one of my personal favorites, as well. I'm a huge Ryu & Chun-Li shipper and, of this, I am not ashamed. I hope all of you enjoy the story.

** Chapter 1 **

Chun-Li sat in front of her computer, staring at the screen for what seemed like hours. She didn’t like asking for help nor was she entirely sure the person she was asking would help her. She was lacking sources of people to turn to, though, and this was one of the few people she knew for sure could help her. If he would say yes. But after agonizing it for another hour, Chun-Li decided to dial the number that showing on her computer screen.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

She was beginning to think that this was a bad idea.

Suddenly, some picked up on the other line.

“ _Stupid thing,_ ” the person on the other end complained. “ _Hello?_ ”

“Hello?” Chun-Li asked. “Um, Ryu?”

“ _Yes? Who is this?_ ”

“This is Chun-Li.”

“ _Chun-Li?_ ” Ryu asked.

“Yes,” Chun-Li confirmed.

“ _Wow._ ” She could hear the surprise in his voice. “ _It’s good to hear from you._ ”

“You, too. But, umm… unfortunately, this isn’t a social call.”

“ _Oh?_ ”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I-I-I know you’re travelling and training but… I don’t know where else to turn. I… I need your help.”

* * *

**_Madrid, Spain._ **

A couple of days later, Chun-Li was sitting outside a café, drinking coffee and waiting for her fellow Street Fighter. After ten minutes passed their scheduled meeting time had passed, Chun-Li became worried.

Those worries were set aside when she saw the world travelling warrior walking toward her.

Chun-Li stood up and extended her hand to Ryu and they shook hands.

“It’s good to see you, Ryu,” Chun-Li said.

“You, too,” Ryu released the handshake. “I was surprised you called me of all people.”

Chun-Li motioned for them to sit down, which they did. “I was surprised you had a phone.”

Ryu chuckled, softly. “Ken made a bet with me that I couldn’t keep one on and working for a whole year.”

“What do you get if you win?”

“A one-on-one fight with Ken.”

“What does Ken get?”

“A one-on-one fight with me.”

Chun-Li just laughed. “I really should have figured that.”

“He has a few new tricks, he claims,” Ryu replied. “But so do I.”

“Oh, I’m sure. Do you two do anything but train?”

“Well, he’s busy with his family now. So, as little as I got to see him before, I really don’t see him much now. It’s just his excuse so we can see each other. Gotta say, I’m in favor of it.”

“Oh.” She seemed a little downhearted. “That’s nice.”

He noticed her shift in attitude, but figured that it tied into the nature of their meeting. “I know that you didn’t invite me here to find out what’s going on in my life. What’s wrong, Chun-Li?”

Chun-Li sighed. “Alright. This… this isn’t easy but… recently, I learned that I… that I have a… a brother.”

Ryu’s became wide and he snapped his head back, slightly.

“But… he’s a criminal. He works for Shadaloo. _Used_ to work for Shadaloo. Anyway, someone found out we were related, they took him hostage… and…” She shook her head.

“And what?” he asked.

“They… they kidnapped my daughter.”

Ryu remembered the little girl Chun-Li adopted after the last tournament. “Mei?”

Chun-Li nodded.

Ryu folded his arms and sighed. “I’m sorry, Chun-Li.”

She sighed and leaned over, putting her hand to her forehead. She lifted her head, resting her chin on the back of her hand. “I… I was trying to have a normal life, you know? I wasn’t hunting them anymore. Shadaloo, I mean. I quit Interpol. I was just raising Mei and training my other kids. I was living a normal life. I was trying to, anyway. Why did this happen?”

“Shadaloo won’t get away with this. We’ll find Bison and…”

“It’s not Bison. It’s not even Shadaloo.”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“He’s dead,” she answered. “You know that.”

He shrugged. “Thought he came back.”

“No, he’s gone. At least for now. Whoever did this… this is someone new. They’re calling themselves Neo-Shadaloo. I don’t even know who’s running them. But I do know that they’re trying to fill the void left by Bison. And their pretty good, too. Whoever is in charge of them… already knows how exactly how to hit me.”


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2 **

Chun-Li and Ryu were in her hotel room later that evening, with papers scattered all over the floor of the bedroom. She was laying out all of the information that her other contacts, associates, partners, friends, and anyone else had given her or she could dig up concerning the Neo-Shadaloo organization. Chun-Li was kneeling on the floor, going through the papers while Ryu sat with his legs crossed on the floor.

Chun-Li picked up a paper, “Let me start by telling you what I know.”

“Alright,” Ryu nodded.

“About three weeks ago, I got an e-mail from a man claiming to be my brother. His name is Chow. He provided a lot of paperwork and hard evidence that… was almost impossible to dispute. Just records like… birth certificates, DNA test results, everything. He’s about five years older than me. He’s my Dad’s son.”

“Wow.”

Chun-Li just nodded. “Then, he asked me… to help him get out.”

“Get out?” Ryu asked.

“Yeah. He wanted help getting out of the criminal element. Apparently, he grew up with it all around him and now… a lot of people want him dead. I was supposed to meet up with him in Bombay. But when I got to the address he sent me to, he was gone and there was a message waiting for me.”

“What message?”

She sighed and handed Ryu a slip of paper. It had traces of dirt and what could’ve been sweat, Ryu wasn’t sure. He unfolded the note and read what was scribbled on it. “No one you care about is safe.”

Ryu sighed and folded the note.

Chun-Li continued, “I went back home and Mei was gone. I was warned to stay out of their way and not to investigate this further. Basically, they warned me not to go to Interpol or Mei and Chow were dead. When they were ready… I’d get Mei back.” She stopped for a second. “I suspended training with my other kids, for now, while I deal with this. Didn’t want them to get dragged into this, too.” She felt herself about to break but managed to fully compose herself before going on. “Ryu… this is going to get dangerous. _Real_ dangerous. Even I don’t know how much. I really don’t even know who these people are. I just know that, if nothing else, I need to save Mei. If you want out, I won’t blame you. But… I need help.”

This was a no-brainer for Ryu. He didn’t like Shadaloo, in any of its forms, and this Neo-Shadaloo was now, officially, on his dislike list. Plus, Chun-Li was his friend. He didn’t need any convincing. He was in.

“So, where do we start?” he asked.

She smiled then pulled out a business card for a nearby bar. “We start here. It’s about three miles from this hotel. There’s a man named Diego Santos. He, supposedly, runs or _did_ run all of Shadaloo’s operations on this land mass. Sound good?”

Ryu nodded. He put his hand up under his chin as he began to think. Chun-Li could see there was something still bothering him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He was reluctant to say but knew he had to. “Not to alarm you, but, if this is Shadaloo in any way we’re dealing with, we have to assume they already know we’re here.”

Until he mentioned it, Chun-Li hadn’t considered that. “You’re right.” She sat down on the bed. “They probably have been monitoring me… and you since we both stepped off our planes. If Santos is here, he’ll either be gone by the time we get there or… have a trap.” She buried her face in her hands, “Oh, God. What am I going to do?”

Ryu looked at her. Without even seeing her face, he could tell how much pain she was in. He got up, walked over, and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find out what we need to and everything will work out. It just may be a little harder than we thought.”

Chun-Li looked up at Ryu. Hearing his words were very reassuring, somehow. Probably stemming from the fact that Ryu was a lousy liar and never said anything he didn’t mean. In a nutshell, Ryu was the most honest and straightforward person she knew, second only to Guile.

“Thanks for coming, Ryu,” Chun-Li said.

Ryu nodded, “No problem.” He patted her shoulder, “Come on. Let’s get ready to go.”

She leaned her head to the side. “But you said they might be expecting us.”

“So, let’s give them what they want.”

Chun-Li smiled.

Before leaving, Chun-Li gave Ryu a new change of clothes to make him somewhat less conspicuous. She bought him a pair of jeans, a polo shirt, and sneakers. Ryu complained about having to wear the new garments because of their restriction on his movements but understood the need to, regardless. Chun-Li, herself, wore a blouse and jeans combination while the biggest change made was taking her hair down and putting into a ponytail to make her not as recognizable as usual.

Minutes later, Ryu and Chun-Li were standing outside of the target destination, Club Cristo, where their target Diego Santos was within. They hoped. As they approached it, they saw the long lines forming around the block just to get in. Fortunately, Chun-Li had a contact to get them in through a back entrance. Once inside, the two fighters saw why it was so popular: the loud music, the laser lights, the flowing drinks, and the constant energy made it the perfect party scene. While Chun-Li was actually enjoying the atmosphere, Ryu was clearly bothered by all of the music, its high volume, and the lights.

“How do people stand this?” Ryu asked.

“What?!” Chun-Li asked.

“I said how do people stand this?!” he shouted.

She giggled a little. “Because it’s fun!”

Ryu put his hands to his ears. “Not to me!”

Chun-Li just giggled again. She took hold of Ryu’s arm and led him to a hallway where the noise was lessened. Chun-Li looked up at a balcony hanging over the club that was easily recognized as the VIP lounge. Chun-Li determined that was likely where their target was.

“Alright,” Chun-Li said. “You see that balcony?”

“Yeah?” Ryu replied.

“That’s where Santos will be.”

“So, let’s go.”

“We can’t just walk up there. He has guards. I know of a way we can get around them.”

He smirked. “Yeah. So, do I.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? How?”

Ryu pointed with his thumb. “Follow me.”

Ryu walked with a purpose up toward the VIP area followed by Chun-Li, who was very curious to what method Ryu was going to use to get into Santos’s private party room. Once they got to the door, which was guarded by a bouncer and a velvet rope, the bouncer, who was holding a clipboard, put his hand up, preventing their advance.

“Names?” the bouncer asked.

“Ryu,” Ryu answered.

The bouncer looked at his clipboard. “Sorry. No ‘Ryu’ on the list.”

“Didn’t expect there to be.”

“Well, then…” The bouncer pointed his finger to the direction behind Ryu and Chun-Li, “get lost.”

Ryu grabbed the bouncer’s finger and bent it back, causing the bouncer to scream in pain and send him down to his knees.

“You know?” Ryu said, causing the bouncer to quiet down. “I usually don’t mind being told I can’t go places but we’re in a little bit of a hurry. Now, are you going to let us in?”

“Yeah! YEAH!” the bouncer screamed. “Please, let go, for the love of God!”

Ryu threw the bouncer’s hand down, jerking the bouncer’s finger as he did so. Ryu and Chun-Li stepped over the bouncer and the velvet rope.

As they stepped over the bouncer and entered the lavish door, Chun-Li looked at Ryu, “That was your plan?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Ryu asked.

Chun-Li just smiled. She couldn’t argue. It did work, after all.

They opened the door to see a lot of people scattered about the room. Alcohol was flowing and people were having a very good time, at least by their standards. Ryu found this room was making him even more uncomfortable than the dancing and music downstairs. As they went about the room, they saw circular area with a large sofa and a couple of easy chairs, where Diego Santos was sitting with a group of friends, chattering indistinctly.

Chun-Li leaned over to Ryu, “That’s him.” Ryu nodded and they walked forward.

As they got closer, Santos looked up and, instantly, recognized Chun-Li.

“Well, well, well,” Santos said, speaking with a very heavy Spanish accent with a touch of arrogance in it. “Miss Chun-Li, I’ve been expecting you.” He looked over at Ryu. “Though, I thought you’d come alone.”

This confirmed Ryu was right. They were expecting Chun-Li. But they had already come this far.

“If you know me,” Chun-Li said, “and you’ve been expecting me, then you know why I’m here.”

“Of course. You’re here about your family. From China all the way to Madrid. I must say, to come so far for family…” Santos sighed, shaking his head, “…such devotion. You just don’t find that often these days.”

Chun-Li found no comfort in his hollow compliment, while Ryu was doing everything he could to stop himself from attacking Santos. Caring more about the immediate situation than Santos’s carefully laid insults, Chun-Li looked past Santos’s façade of concern. “Where’s my family?” she asked.

Santos just sat back, stretching his arms over the back of the couch. He smirked, “What makes you think I know anything?”

“Because you’re Shadaloo’s resident errand boy. And that role didn’t change with this new leadership. Any news passes through here for them, you’ll know, and Madrid was the place where my brother’s last e-mail came from. Now, where is Chow?”

Being called an errand boy struck a nerve. Santos leaned forward, his face hardening. “I don’t like being insulted, Ms. Li. I think you should leave now and come back when you have some manners.”

It was clear the indirect approach wasn’t going to work, which didn’t bother Ryu one bit. Ryu rubbed his wrists. “We tried it your way.”

Chun-Li cut her eyes to Ryu. “We tried the _easy_ way. _My_ way is a lot like yours.”

Ryu smiled. “What’s the difference?”

“I believe in hitting women, whether they’re trained fighters or not.”

Santos raised an eyebrow. “You two want a fight? Not very smart. You see, these…” He waved his hands and random bodyguards began standing up. “…these are all my friends.” The guards ranged from medium-sized men to muscle-heads. There were even a couple of females in the mix.

Chun-Li looked at them all then back at Santos, “And we’re supposed to be impressed because?”

“Because as trained as you are, Ms. Li, even you can’t stand against all of them. Not even with your friend.”

That last statement made Chun-Li smile as a realization came to her. She motioned toward Ryu, “You have no idea who this is. Do you?”

Santos looked Ryu over. “No. Should I care?”

Chun-Li just held her smile. It was all she could do to keep from laughing. “Wow. For someone who supposed to be well-informed, you definitely are not.”

Santos just rolled his eyes. “I’m through with this. Get them out of here.” His bodyguards went to do as ordered.

One of the bigger guards moved toward Ryu first, who grabbed the guard and flipped him over, sending him crashing into the VIP room’s mini-bar. This caused some of ladies who were not security to scream. Another man rushed at Ryu, his fist flying through the air, but Ryu easily blocked it, jumped, and kicked the man in the side of the head. Two of the female guards ran at Chun-Li; she blocked the first one, giving her a sweep kick for her trouble, and, upon standing, gave an uppercut to the other. One of the muscular men grabbed Chun-Li from behind, but she simply lifted herself off the ground then came back down with enough force to flip the man over. Once he was on the ground, Chun-Li delivered a well-place kicked to man’s sternum, not enough to break it but more than enough to make sure he would move awkwardly for a little while.

As the fight went on, Santos sat wide-eyed and speechless. “S-Someone get Gladiator!” he shouted. “Bring him in here! Now! Right NOW!”

As the duo kept fighting, a masked man walked in. He was even larger than the most muscled-out guards in the room; his mask was a luchador-style mask but he wore casual clothes, otherwise. It was easy to tell this was the Gladiator. Ryu recognized him from posters Ryu had taken notice of around the city. Ryu had been wondering what it would be like to fight him. He was about to get his answer.

Gladiator ran at Ryu and managed to lock him into a bearhug, starting to choke the air right out of Ryu. Ryu fought against Gladiator’s grip, eventually, managing to get a few solid knees into the luchador’s gut. He got in a few more and Gladiator tossed Ryu aside. Ryu landed and came right back with a right fist to Gladiator’s face. Gladiator punched Ryu in the gut in response, but Ryu gave Gladiator a combo of punches and kicks to various body parts. Gladiator tried to give one more effort to win the fight. He reached for Ryu’s throat, grabbed hold of it and lifted Ryu off the ground, going for a chokeslam on the floor. Unfortunately for Gladiator, Ryu grabbed hold of Gladiator’s arm, twisted around, and threw Gladiator to the ground.

When the Gladiator was rising to his feet, Ryu was ready for him. He took stance, moved his hand to his side and twisted his body. Soon, light began emanating from his palms.

Santos instantly recognized Ryu. “No…” Santos whispered, “not him…”

Gladiator turned and Ryu brought twisted his body around, thrust his hands forward, and he shouted, “HADOUKEN!”

The energy flew, connected with Gladiator, and blasted him out of the VIP room and back down to the club floor. Gladiator landed with a loud crash, stopping the music and leading everyone’s eyes up to the VIP lounge.

With all of his men defeated, Santos just stared at Chun-Li and Ryu, terror written all over his face.

Chun-Li walked over and put her foot on the couch, next to him and leaned down. “Now. We came here for information. Are you going to tell us what we want to know? Or am I going to beat it out of you?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

After getting what they needed from Santos and leaving Club Cristo, Ryu and Chun-Li went back to their hotel, making sure to take a different, longer, and more complicated path as to not be followed. Once back there, they started to unwind.

Chun-Li was smiling from ear-to-ear. “Ryu. That was so cool!”

Ryu raised an eyebrow. “You say the word ‘cool’?”

She laughed. “I can’t help it! Santos had no idea who you were and, the second you used the Hadouken, you should’ve seen his face! Of course, you probably did after you turned around. He turned completely white.”

He chuckled, “It was a good feeling.”

“And he couldn’t talk faster or give up more information.” She plopped down on the bed. “That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

He sat in a chair. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

“I can’t say I didn’t.” Chun-Li began to calm down, her grin fading. “Is that bad?”

Ryu thought about it. “You’re going through a lot. Any relief…” He shrugged, “take it.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Ryu.”

“No problem.”

“I guess we can head out tomorrow. Just gotta keep moving. I hope you’re okay with that.”

He chuckled. “That’s how I live.”

“Then tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” He grabbed his duffle bag, threw it on the sofa in the room, and laid down, using the bag as a pillow. “I’m gonna go ahead and get some sleep. Night.”

She smiled. “Good night.”

As Ryu went to asleep, Chun-Li stared at him for a few seconds, in admiration and appreciation. She then got ready for bed and got some much-needed sleep.

* * *

The next day, both fighters were on board a plane, bound for London. From the information they received from Santos, Neo-Shadaloo was being financially supported by a man named Henry Markway, a London businessman, who worked for the banking firm, Rosewood International. Markway was using his connections through the bank, both legitimate and not, to fund many of Neo-Shadaloo’s ventures. With Ryu and Chun-Li being in London and Markway being a British citizen, they realized they were treading on territory of someone they knew well. Reluctant to do so until Ryu convinced her otherwise, Chun-Li put in a call to their good friend, Cammy White.

They all met at restaurant Cammy frequented, Riley’s. Cammy was dressed casually, as opposed to her usual one-piece leotard she wore for her Delta Red assignments. Cammy was surprised to see Ryu and Chun-Li in casual clothing, as well. Cammy joked that karate gis and hair buns aren’t exactly common this close to Big Ben, anyway. Not wasting any time and Cammy not wanting any time wasted, Chun-Li went on to explain the details of why she needed help, even trusting Cammy with the detail about Chun-Li’s brother, Chow. After all, Chun-Li not only thought of Cammy as a capable warrior but one of her closest friends.

“I figured something big must be going on,” Cammy said, after Chun-Li’s explanation. “You don’t usually just happen to be in London, Chun-Li.” She looked at Ryu, “And you’re so hard to track down, it’s like pulling teeth to figure out where you _were_ a year ago.”

Ryu smiled. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

Cammy smiled. “Well, then, back to business. Markway is going to be a tough nut to crack. Guy’s got enough money to bankrupt a quarter of Parliament. I can’t prove it, but I think he has threatened a couple of them.”

“We just need info on Neo-Shadaloo,” Chun-Li said. “If we find out anything else, we’ll tell you.”

“Thanks. As far as Markway goes, the guy pretty much has the same routine every day. Arrives at Rosewood by 8 every morning, save Sundays, goes to a pub called Gregend’s by 7 at night, and back home. The time he leaves for home can vary, especially since this is a weekend.”

Ryu sat back. “Hmm. We’ll have to catch him leaving the pub.”

“That’s gonna be tough,” Cammy said. “He travels with an entourage of personal bodyguards. Well-trained men. Ex-Special Forces, police officers, that kind of thing.”

“I’m fine with that.”

Ryu’s confidence never failed to impress Cammy. If something was wrong, he would stand up against it. But something about this situation was different. Cammy could feel it. And it wasn’t Ryu’s commitment that worried Cammy. It was Chun-Li’s. And, even that was not entirely accurate. She was worried about how far Chun-Li was willing to go for this.

Cammy looked over at Chun-Li. “So, what about you?”

Chun-Li blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… if this Neo-Shadaloo is anything like the old one, then they’re going to all sorts of lengths to keep you out of their business. They already have Mei and your brother. After your fun in Madrid, there’s probably no telling what they’ll do next. Are you sure about this?”

Chun-Li pondered for a moment. Cammy’s question and points were valid and needed. Chun-Li had to think about this before going any further. Neo-Shadaloo took all of the family she had left, and their only condition was she stay out of their way. But Chun-Li couldn’t stop. She’d already dragged Ryu along and now Cammy was helping. She had to see this through. She had to get Mei and Chow.

Chun-Li nodded, “I’m sure.”

After seeing how confident they were, Cammy pulled out another cell phone. “Take this.”

Chun-Li grabbed hold of the cell phone. She looked at it, perplexed, then Cammy. “Why?”

“Phone’s untraceable. I’d say you keep using your phone, too, but you can call me on this anytime you need anything. Just keep me in the loop.”

Chun-Li tightened her grip on the phone, gently. “Thank you, Cammy.”

Cammy nodded. “Don’t mention it.”

* * *

**_Hours Later._ **

Ryu was sitting on a park bench that gave him a clear view to the pub Cammy mentioned, Gregend’s. He’d only been there about 15 minutes, but he was already getting anxious for Markway to show up.

Chun-Li came up with a large brown paper bag and sat next to Ryu. “Anything?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Ryu answered.

She opened the bag and handed him a bottle of water and pulled out a box of bagels. She opened it and started eating one.

Ryu huffed. “How much longer?”

Chun-Li giggled. “It’s not even 7 yet.”

He groaned.

She laughed again. “Never imagined you were so impatient.”

“Usually, I’m not. I’m just used to moving.”

“That must be fun.”

“Not so much fun as it is strengthening,” he said.

“Like how?” she asked.

He took a drink of water. “You learn more going from place to place. People, foods, lifestyles, fighting techniques. Learn from different experiences.”

She smiled. “People call you a drifter, ya know.”

“I’ve heard that… from Ken.” They both laughed. “I don’t mind, though. People can call me whatever they want. Personally, I think they should spend their time on the other things but whatever.”

Chun-Li’s mood changed. She became a little sadder. She sighed. “People will talk, no matter what. They talked about me for leaving Interpol.”

Ryu looked at her, surprised. “Why?”

“Because they say it was pointless to throw it all away to… well, someone said ‘to play mommy to little orphan girl.’ It would’ve hurt… if I cared about what others said. Truth be told, I love my life with Mei. Her and my other students… mean so much to me. If everyone else has a problem with it, then fine. It’s not their lives. It’s mine.”

He chuckled. “Two of a kind.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“Ken. He’s said that about you and me a few times. Said we’re the same, just in a couple of ways. He probably meant that we don’t care what others think. Two of a kind.”

Chun-Li smiled. “Maybe Ken is more right than he knows.”

They sat for a long time in silence, finishing the bagels and drinking water. Chun-Li was usually talkative but she had no words this time around. She just appreciated Ryu being with her. In this instance, total silence didn’t bother her. Even when Chun-Li did talk, Ryu never actually tried to silence her; being quiet was just his nature.

Ryu wasn’t worried about the silence. He was used to being alone, having his own things to think about. Still, Chun-Li was a soothing presence and easy to talk to, when he felt the need. Along with being an amazing fighter, Ryu always found Chun-Li to be a brilliant person. Ryu had always held immeasurable respect for her. He was stunned when she called him for help, but he accepted, nonetheless. He felt a great honor to have Chun-Li ask him for help.

But, the more time he spent with her, Ryu found himself feeling another emotion for Chun-Li. An emotion he hadn’t experienced before or knew how to deal with.

A couple of hours later, Henry Markway, who was mid-to-late 50s with a bald head and glasses, went walking toward the Gregend’s with five men wearing black suits.

“Completely surrounded by guards.” Chun-Li noted. “Just like Cammy said.”

“She said he lives in this area, right?” Ryu asked.

“Sure. Those apartment complexes right behind us. Keeps his travel time home short since he usually leaves drunk.”

Ryu looked at the apartment building then back at the pub. “And he’s leaving late tonight?”

“It’s a weekend,” Chun-Li reminded, “and Cammy said he never goes into work on Sunday. And since he’s not a religious man, I doubt church is an option.”

“So, that means they have to come across the park?”

“Yeah?” she asked, curious as to what was going through his head.

He nodded, “Alright. I know what to do.”

She stared at him for a few seconds. “Ryu, why have you been so gung-ho about all this?”

“Because I don’t like people kidnapping children. A personal pet peeve of mine.” He looked at her, a serious look in her eyes. “Especially when they’re children of my friends.”

Chun-Li was speechless. And touched.

Ryu really cared. He wasn’t just doing her favor.

“Alright,” Ryu looked back at the pub. “Here’s my idea…”

* * *

**_Several Hours Later._ **

Markway and his bodyguards came out of the pub, close to 2AM. They walked across the park, with Markway quite intoxicated but still upright. They were going through the park, just passing by the fountain, when someone came with a kick out of nowhere knocking the first of the five guards down. The remaining guards, quickly, formed a perimeter around Markway but another was cut down by a sweep kick from Chun-Li. Another guard went after her, while the remaining two caught sight of Ryu. One of the guards charged at Ryu, only to receive a backfist to his gut followed by a spin kick to his chin, rendering him unconscious. The last guard by Markway pulled out a gun but Ryu quickly kicked the gun out of the guard’s hand. Ryu punched the guard several times, ending the assault with an uppercut, taking him out as well. The one guard going for Chun-Li was easily taken care of with a strong, well-placed kick to his abdomen. The first guard Chun-Li swept kick got up and tried to stab her with a knife he was concealing. However, Chun-Li saw the guard coming and kicked him hard enough to send him into the fountain, unconscious with a fractured jaw, missing teeth, and now wet.

With the guards down, Chun-Li and Ryu looked and saw Markway hiding on the other side of the fountain.

Chun-Li sighed. “He didn’t even have the smarts to run away.”

They heard sudden movement through the trees in the park, causing Ryu and Chun-Li look up at the trees.

Ryu readied himself for another fight. “That may be the reason for…”

Ryu didn’t get to finish before woman in black ninja garb descended from the trees and dropped down on Ryu’s chest with her feet, forcing him hard against the pavement. She jumped up and tried the same maneuver on Chun-Li.

Chun-Li tightened her fist.

Chun-Li easily kicked the ninja out of the air. The ninja landed via performing a flip. Chun-Li charged at her, going for palm strikes over, but the ninja dodged them all. The ninja came back with punches that Chun-Li deflected and gave the ninja a kick to the side of her gut. The ninja returned with punch that Chun-Li managed to block, but Chun-Li couldn’t dodge a follow-up kick, which caused Chun-Li to stumble back. The ninja flipped backward and jumped high in the air. Chun-Li wiped dirt off her lip, looked up, and charged her hands. She stepped back just enough to dodge the ninja’s strike.

But not enough to move away from her.

Chun-Li moved her hands to her side and swiftly brought them up in front of her. “KIKOSHO!”

The ninja looked just in time to get an energy strike right to her face, sending her flying back and crashing into a tree, followed by her landing face first in the grass, out cold.

Chun-Li lowered her hands and smiled. She looked over to see Ryu had a vice grip on Markway’s arm. “You were holding him the whole time?” Chun-Li asked.

“Didn’t want him to get away,” Ryu shrugged.

Chun-Li giggled. “And you didn’t help me?”

Ryu smiled. “I knew you had it under control.” He looked at the path of pain the ninja took. “Your Kikosho was a bit much.”

“Maybe.” She walked over to them, “But I find that funny coming from a man who used a Hadouken on a luchador.” She looked at Markway, who had a look of terror on his face.

“Wh-who are you people?” Markway stuttered out in fear.

Chun-Li narrowed her eyes at Markway and declared, menacingly, “My name is Chun-Li. And I want the location and names of the leaders of Neo-Shadaloo.”


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4 **

After extracting what they needed from Markway, Cammy met up with Chun-Li at the hotel she and Ryu was staying at the following night. Ryu had gone out, leaving Cammy and Chun-Li time to talk alone while drinking tea.

“I trust that Mr. Markway was helpful,” Cammy said.

“Oh, very,” Chun-Li answered. “Extremely talkative, once everything quieted down.”

“What all did he have to say?”

“He told me Neo-Shadaloo is run by a man named Guerrilla. Like the warfare.”

“What a name,” Cammy mused.

“No worse than others we’ve heard,” Chun-Li pointed out.

“True.”

“Anyway, Markway said Guerrilla is just as dedicated into turning this Shadaloo into a global problem as Bison was with the old one. Except Markway claimed that Guerrilla is more hands-on.”

“Then how come no one’s seen him?” Cammy asked.

“Markway claims Guerrilla moves in and out of places he decides need his immediate attention,” Chun-Li answered.

Cammy scoffed. “How interesting. And, by that, I mean disturbing. What else?”

“Because of his roaming nature, Guerrilla never seems to stay in one place, but the last transfer of money that Markway oversaw came from, and get this, Tokyo, of all places.”

“So, you’re going to Ryu’s home country.”

“Yep.”

“You sure Guerrilla’s still there?” Cammy asked.

Chun-Li stared at Cammy for a few seconds. “It was a _lot_ of money.”

“Gotcha. When are you leaving?”

“Early tomorrow.”

“And where’s Ryu?”

“He heard a rumor of a fight club around here. He went to go find it and check it out. He complained about the lack of a good fight so far.”

Cammy laughed, a bit. “I’ve always liked that guy.”

Chun-Li giggled, as well.

Cammy sighed. She decided to broach a subject that had been on her mind ever since she realized Chun-Li called Ryu first. “Chun-Li,” Cammy said, “why did you call Ryu?”

“What do you mean?” Chun-Li asked.

“Just what I said.”

Chun-Li shrugged. “I just needed the help, that’s all.”

“No, that’s not all,” Cammy declared.

Chun-Li paused, momentarily. “Why do you say that?”

“Don’t give me that. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Ryu because there isn’t. But you could’ve called me, Guile, or _anyone_ else that has way more connections, are way more inconspicuous, and possess better investigative skills.”

“But no better fighters.”

“Point,” Cammy admitted. “One that’s almost impossible to argue, but that doesn’t answer the question.”

Chun-Li looked down at the floor, unsure of how to respond. It was a query Chun-Li had hoped time and focus spent searching for Mei and Chow and bringing down Neo-Shadaloo would keep people from asking. Unfortunately, Cammy was a lot quicker to catch on than Chun-Li would’ve liked. Chun-Li started to worry she was taking too long to answer, which had her worried the question would be asked again.

She didn’t have to, though. Cammy saw right through Chun-Li. It didn’t make Cammy any less surprised, though. After all, it was quite the realization. “Oh, Chun-Li,” Cammy said. “Don’t tell me…”

Since it was Cammy and she clearly already had it figured out, Chun-Li didn’t even bother fighting it. Chun-Li exhaled, “Am I that obvious?”

Cammy sat back. “To another woman and a friend, yes. Anyone else who doesn’t know as well, it might take a little longer.” They were quiet for a long time. “When did this start?”

Chun-Li sighed. “A while back. Been fighting it like the plague for… well, ever since it started.”

“I understand.”

Chun-Li shook her head.

Silence took over again. Despite the awkwardness, Chun-Li felt a little relieved to, finally, get that off her chest, while Cammy had another plaguing question about the situation.

“Have you told him?” Cammy asked.

“Oh, Cammy, please!” Chun-Li said, rolling her eyes.

“Chun-Li…”

“No, Cammy. No. I’m not even going to entertain the idea of telling him.”

“You should.”

Chun-Li sat quiet. Surprisingly, this part was harder to talk about than she thought. “And expect him to do what? Leave his life of training to come live with me?”

“Why not?” Cammy asked. “Maybe he’s looking for a change.”

“Most people do. Ryu is not now, has never been, and probably will never be most people.”

“True enough. But having him here under false pretenses isn’t fair to him.”

“It’s not false pretenses,” Chun-Li retorted. “I legitimately needed the help of someone they couldn’t track.”

Cammy studied her for a second. “Alright. I believe you, but…”

“I just can’t, Cammy. I don’t deal with feelings well, especially romantic ones. I never have. In that way, I guess me and him are a lot alike.”

“But is not knowing worth going through all of this alone?”

“I’m not alone,” Chun-Li argued.

Cammy sighed. “I hate to say it… but you kind of are, if you’re keeping all this bottled up. You’re not trusting him with all the information.”

“I just don’t want any distractions.”

“Him or you?”

Chun-Li scoffed. “I don’t think anything can throw his focus off. So, to answer your question… me.”

* * *

Having found the fight club he was looking for and enjoying a couple of fights, Ryu headed back to the hotel. It was late and he was walking one of the more secluded London streets when he sensed a strong presence nearby and stopped.

Someone was watching him.

He recognized the presence. He felt a very familiar chill go up his spine, even making his skin crawl.

Ryu looked over his shoulder, “I can’t believe anyone let you out of jail, Vega.”

Around the corner came the metal-mask wearing, claw-carrying sociopath Vega. He was wearing smile, easy to tell even with the mask. “Ryu, Ryu, Ryu. It has been a while. How long has it been?”

Ryu turned around and looked in the eyes of his nemesis. Vega’s eyes being all Ryu could see, of course, due to the mask. “Nowhere near long enough.”

Vega brought his claw up as it gleamed in the moonlight. “That’s not very nice. After I came all this way to see you.”

Ryu got into a fighting stance. “What do you want?”

“To kill you, what else?”

“Good luck with that.”

Vega let out a brief chuckle, “I don’t need luck.”

“Did Neo-Shadaloo send you?” Ryu asked.

“Indeed, they did.”

“Why?”

Vega scoffed. “You’re on the list, Ryu.”

Ryu blinked in confusion. “List?”

“Yes.” Vega aimed the claw at Ryu. “I was given the choice to bring you in alive or dead. I chose ‘dead’.”

Vega rushed at Ryu and, immediately, tried swiping Ryu with his claws. Ryu dodged the claw strikes, but Vega caught Ryu with a right kick to Ryu’s left arm. Ryu went for a punch, but Vega flipped backward. Ryu charged at Vega and tried punching him. Vega blocked and tried swiping Ryu again, but Ryu dodged. Ryu kicked Vega in the side and swept Vega’s legs from under him. Vega hit the concrete hard and Ryu got back to his feet and backed up.

Vega hurried to his feet and jumped at Ryu. Vega used a lamppost to spin around and kick Ryu in the face. Ryu stumbled but dodged Vega’s next stab attempt. Ryu grabbed hold of Vega’s claw arm and punched Vega in the gut, repeatedly. Vega got a knee up, blocking the next punch, and jumped with a kick with the other leg. Ryu fell back and Vega jumped in the air and dove for Ryu.

But Ryu saw Vega coming.

Ryu’s ki flared up.

Vega felt Ryu’s power. But could do nothing to stop himself.

“SHORYUKEN!”

Ryu met Vega mid-air with the devastating uppercut. Vega crashed hard on his back, his metal mask falling off and landing next to him. Ryu landed in a crouching position, breathing hard.

Ryu heard Vega chuckle.

Vega struggled to sit up and looked at his opponent. “Hmmph. Not bad. Not bad at all, Ryu.” He, quickly but painfully, got back to his feet and he picked up his mask.

“Alright,” Ryu groaned. “I know when you’re not trying. So, what’s going on?”

“Good insight.” Vega ran his finger across the side of his blade. “You’re right. I lied. I was never sent to kill you. Call this an exhibition, Ryu. I can’t say I don’t enjoy just getting to test you any chance I get.” He chuckled. “I’m positive we’ll have a real fight soon enough.”

“What list is this that I’m on?”

Vega laughed again then stared at Ryu, a smile on his face. “Hmm. I suppose I can tell you. My new employer said nothing about silence, and I get such pleasure from getting inside your head.”

“What are you talking about?” Ryu asked, agitated.

Vega swiped the air with an arrogant flourish. “As I’m quite sure you know by now, my new employer is Guerrilla, the leader of Neo-Shadaloo, and he has targeted sweet, little Chun-Li. He wants her…” He searched for the right word, “broken.”

Ryu narrowed his eyes. “Broken? How?”

“Chun-Li was one of the primary reasons Shadaloo went down to begin with. From the legally authorized standpoint, anyway. You’re the other side of that coin, but who has time to actually seek you out. Threatening your loved ones is pointless since you’re near impossible to track down. Guerrilla seems quite confident in his own abilities, in case you showed back up, so he wasn’t very concerned with hunting you. Though, I was called in just in case.”

“What about Chun-Li?”

“Ay, yes,” Vega said. “Chun-Li, however, is such an easy target. Neo-Shadaloo has been watching her, closely. I’m sure she told you the warning she was given, to stay out of this or her family would be harmed. But the truth is… _she’s_ the target, Ryu. Guerrilla wants to see how far she can be pushed. See, he knew she wouldn’t stay away. He was counting on it. He wanted to see how far she would go and slowly break her down until she gives up. After all… if he can break her, he can break anybody.”

Ryu’s muscles began to tighten again. “So, that’s why he kidnapped Mei? Took Chow? To prove a point?!”

“Essentially. But Chun-Li’s brother and daughter are just part of this puzzle. All of the pieces are the ones she cares deeply about. Which, my friend, is where you come in.”

“I’m _not_ your friend. And someone must be lying to you. I’d hardly qualify as someone she cares deeply about. This is the first time I’ve seen her in years.”

“Believe what you will.” Vega did a backflip, followed by another, then one last flip strong enough to put him on top of a lamppost. “Other friends of hers are being watched. The order is just waiting to be given to capture them, kill them, or otherwise. Think about this, Ryu: why was I told to come after you now?”

“Because you knew I was helping her,” Ryu said. “Because you knew I went to help her in Madrid, and we came here.”

Vega laughed. “Ryu. Until just now, I had no idea you were even in Madrid. I haven’t been following you. Others may have had more technical ways of locating you but not me. I didn’t even know you were in London… or here with Chun-Li… until they called me to come attack you… five hours ago.”

Ryu’s expression changed from one of rage to one of fierce confusion.

Vega jumped again and disappeared from sight.

Ryu unclenched his fists and calmed down. He looked at the ground in bewilderment. If Vega was telling the truth, which Ryu was positive he was, why would Neo-Shadaloo come after him when they are targeting people close to Chun-Li?


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5 **

While Ryu was sure Vega was telling the truth, Ryu wasn’t sure Vega was the only assailant in London. Ryu ran back to the hotel, sprinting to get to the floor that his and Chun-Li’s room was on. He walked in the door, almost throwing it open. He was breathing hard and showing marks from the battle. Chun-Li and Cammy were surprised by his entrance and condition, immediately jumping to their feet.

“Ryu?!” Chun-Li asked, concernedly.

“What happened to you?” Cammy asked, alarmedly.

“Vega,” Ryu answered.

Chun-Li gasped.

“ _VEGA?!_ ” Cammy shouted. “Here? In London?!”

“Just attacked me,” Ryu informed.

Rage and fury boiled within Cammy. She pulled out a phone, grumbling, “That psycho is in my city, _my city_ , _my country_ , and _no one_ saw that coming.” She headed toward the door, “I’m gonna head out. I’ll get everyone I can searching for him. I’ll let you know when I have something.”

“Thanks, Cammy,” Chun-Li said.

“Be careful,” Ryu said.

Cammy waved and headed out the door.

Ryu sat down on the couch, doing his best to relax after the fight and the run. But he was still fuming about Vega’s appearance and message. Chun-Li looked Ryu over again. Though he wasn’t shaking or overtly excited, he was still seething.

Chun-Li sat down near him, on the arm chair. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Ryu sighed. “Yeah. Vega wasn’t really trying. That much was obvious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because there were a couple of times where he could’ve done a lot of damage or tried to… but he didn’t take it.”

“Why?” Chun-Li asked.

“Said he was told not to,” Ryu answered.

Her eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“Something to do with some list.”

“What list?”

He sighed. “That’s where it gets complicated.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Ryu recounted how Vega informed him about people who were close to Chun-Li were being targeted, and how they were all over the world because of Chun-Li’s role in taking out Shadaloo the last time. The most important part of the disclosure, however, was when Chun-Li learned all this was designed not to keep her away, but geared to force her involvement.

Chun-Li just sat back in shock. “Targeting… me?”

“Yeah,” Ryu confirmed.

She shook her head in disbelief. “I… I can’t believe this. I-I thought they were just after Mei and Chow because… b-because they just wanted to stay off the case, not help Interpol, but… this…”

“I was just as surprised as you are. But… Chun-Li, why would they be after me?”

She looked at him then, immediately, looked away.

“Why would I be on this list of theirs?” he asked.

She said nothing. She didn’t even want to chance looking at him again.

It was then a question that Ryu barely even thought to ask since all of this started came to his mind. “Why did you call me?”

Chun-Li did her best to cover it up. Fortunately, the shock of the earlier revelation helped mask her uneasiness with the question. “I… I-I just needed help. From someone off the grid. Someone that was impossible to track.”

Ryu only accepted that answer to a point. “But anyone else we both know could’ve been worlds more help than me. I mean, Cammy, Guile, even Ken. They can track better and can… actually use computers and things like that. So, why me?”

Similar with Cammy, it was taking Chun-Li longer to answer than she wanted. She knew what she wanted to say, but the truth was trying to force its way out and both were fighting inside her mind. “I… I just did, okay?!” Her voice came across more brash than she wanted.

Ryu didn’t want to argue with her. It had been a long enough day and she was already clearly going through enough. He decided to let the issue drop. For now.

Ryu nodded, “Okay.”

Chun-Li sighed. He was trying to help and she snapped at him. “I’m sorry, Ryu.”

“Don’t be. A lot’s happened in small time. Put’s anybody on edge.”

“Anyone but you.”

“I don’t have a family. You do.”

“And that’s how they got to me,” she said. “That’s why I have to sneak all over the world, instead of just busting down their door.”

“You care, Chun-Li,” he declared. “It’s not a bad thing.”

“I feel like it is right now.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do.”

The turmoil Chun-Li was in was so obvious that, even if Ryu didn’t know the whole story, he could see her pain. As he watched her, he was reminded of something he learned long ago.

“One thing that Master Gouken taught me,” Ryu began, “is that the fist is the way to the heart. The stronger your fist, the stronger your heart.”

“My dad used to say the same thing,” Chun-Li said, almost smiling.

“So, stop worrying. If it’s evident that you care, that’s a good thing. It’s putting more power into your fists.”

While his words did help, she still felt uncertainty. “I just hate wearing my heart out like this. It’s too… girly. I hate it. Makes me look weak.”

“A word that I would never, in my life, use to describe you, Chun-Li, is weak.”

She smiled. “Thanks, again, Ryu.”

“No problem.”

* * *

The following morning came without either Ryu or Chun-Li getting a wink of sleep. They knew they should sleep, but they weren’t sure it was the best idea. Cammy came back to the hotel and informed them Vega managed to slip past all forms of security, and, other than fighting Ryu, there was no sign of Vega entering or exiting the country. This really didn’t come as a surprise, though. Vega was good, as much as they all hated to admit it.

Since there was no chance of tracking him, Ryu and Chun-Li decided to press on with their investigation. Despite knowing Neo-Shadaloo was on to them, they knew they couldn’t stop now. They boarded the next available flight, bound for Tokyo. Ryu stayed very alert the entire flight, not settling down at all, looking all around for signs of trouble. Chun-Li had no better luck. She couldn’t relax at all with the high emotions running through her, and the possibility of assailants kept her from settling down at all. Unfortunately, it was getting harder for Chun-Li stay awake and alert, but, as badly as she wanted and needed sleep, her constant panic kept sleep far from her.

They landed in Tokyo, without incident, thankfully. They went to a hotel and, after settling in the room, Chun-Li fainted, nearly collapsing on the floor.

“Chun-Li?!” Ryu barely caught her before she hit the floor. He held her up, getting her to feet. “Chun-Li?”

She blinked back to consciousness. She looked around, looking at Ryu. “What happened?”

“You passed out.” He guided her to sit on the bed.

“My God. That’s never happened short of a fight before.” Chun-Li grabbed her forehead and leaned over. “I’m so exhausted.”

Ryu folded his arms and sighed. “Gotta wonder if that’s the point of all this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Keep you running around, from place to place, can’t rest.”

She sighed, crashing back first on the bed. “It’s working then.”

Even without nearly fainting, Ryu could see how out of it Chun-Li was. She needed to rest. “You stay here.”

“What?!” Chun-Li looked at Ryu, surprised. “No, no,” she sat up, “I’m fine.”

“You nearly passed out in a quiet room with only the two of us in it. Stay here. Go to sleep. I can handle this.” He started to leave.

“You’re just as tired as I am.”

He stopped, then turned to face her. He chuckled, softly. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“In the airport. You slowed down a little at the luggage claim. Almost missed our bags.”

“You weren’t supposed to see that. I told you to go sit.”

“I did,” she replied, “and saw you.”

He sighed. “Alright. So, I’m a little groggy myself.”

“It’s been a long few days, Ryu.” She shrugged, “Why don’t we… stay in? Just for a while.”

“We don’t want to lose the trail,” he said.

“And if we go out there tired and sluggish, we’re as good as dead. We need the rest.”

“True,” he conceded.

“So, let’s stay,” she said. “We can get back on the trail as early as tonight. But… let’s just get some rest for now. Okay?”

He smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

The rest of the afternoon, they slept. It was needed. Chun-Li was right; they had been no good if they had immediately rushed off. They both awoke just as the sun had completely set on the Japanese metropolis. They didn’t get a great deal of rest, but it was enough to get up and keep functioning. Chun-Li used the phone Cammy gave her to track down any sightings of Guerrilla in the area.

There was one.

That night, they both headed out for the Shinjuku district. The intel was Guerrilla had been seen coming to and from a rundown hotel in the district for reasons no one could, or wanted to, imagine. They arrived at the dilapidated hotel, the Suguru Arms.

As Chun-Li stared at it, she thought, ‘ _This place should’ve been shut down months ago._ ’ A windowsill suddenly broke and fell to the ground. ‘ _Make that years._ ’

Ryu led the way as they entered the hotel. The interior was just as unkempt as the exterior, with a mass amount of unsanitary conditions blatantly on display. The hotel was mainly used for less than honorable to downright illegal reasons. Cammy informed Chun-Li and Ryu no one stayed here in the earnest need of a room for the night. They went up to the front desk to find the night manager passed out at his desk.

“Um… excuse me?” Chun-Li asked.

The manager blinked awake and stared at them. “Uh, yeah?”

“I was wondering…”

“Oh, yeah! It’s you!”

“Excuse me?” Chun-Li asked.

The manager scrambled around for a key. He found one and presented it to her. “The man said ‘give this to the brown haired girl with the guy who looks like an angry hobo.’”

Chun-Li looked at Ryu, who just shrugged. She looked back at the manager. “Who told you that?”

“I didn’t get his name. He paid me more money than it takes to run this place for a year. Told me to tell you to go to the roof. And he said to make sure no one else goes up there. Said to make sure you know that.”

Chun-Li and Ryu looked at each other before proceeding to the stairs. As they started to climb, Ryu went ahead and addressed the elephant on the staircase. “You know this is a trap,” he said.

“I know,” Chun-Li replied, immediately.

Ryu didn’t say anything else. Chun-Li’s stride up the stairs never slowed. He knew she was committed to this, no matter what. And he would have her back, no matter what.

They reached the door to the roof. Chun-Li put the key in the lock and held on to the door knob. She took a deep breath and turned the knob. She opened the door and she and Ryu walked on to the roof.

Standing near the edge of the roof, in jeans and a long black coat, was a near-7’ tall, dark-skinned man with dreadlocks. He had his back to the door as he was looking out over Tokyo with his hands clasped behind him, revealing he was wearing fingerless, biker gloves.

Chun-Li steadied her breathing.

The man smiled and turned around. With a black t-shirt, clean shave face, and chiseled soldier features that gave Guile a run for his money, the imposing figure spoke, “Hello, Chun-Li, Ryu. My name is Guerrilla.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If anyone has a problem with Guerrilla's name or how he looks in relation to the name, I would like to go ahead and let you guys know, I'm African-American. Sorry for those of you to whom that has no bearing, I just don't want to get flamed or... whatever.


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6 **

Ryu and Chun-Li stood in the presence of the leader of Neo-Shadaloo, Guerrilla. While Guerrilla’s size alone was intimidating, Ryu could feel the power Guerrilla commanded was far more prominent. Just by his aura, it was no wonder Guerrilla was the leader of Neo-Shadaloo.

“You two are quite the detectives,” Guerrilla said, speaking in a heavy African accent. “You followed the breadcrumbs right to me.”

“Breadcrumbs?” Chun-Li asked.

“But, of course,” Guerrilla said, flawlessly shifting to a French accent, before returning to his normal tone. “You think I just _let_ you race all over the world. You think I didn’t notice the second you stepped off the plane in London.”

Chun-Li narrowed her eyes.

“So, why didn’t Vega know we were in London until after we found Markway?” Ryu asked.

Guerrilla scoffed. “Oh, please, Ryu. As a good an assassin he may be, I don’t trust Vega that much. In case you haven’t noticed, the man is absolutely insane.”

“And you’re not?”

Guerrilla laughed, boisterously. “I can see why you would think that. Kidnapping a child, holding a man hostage, all to drive a single woman crazy.” He chuckled. “But, no. I am quite sane.” He shrugged, “Of course, I’m sure you’re wondering why I chose you, Chun-Li. Why, out of all my choices, you. I can tell you’d like an explanation.”

“I would, yes,” Chun-Li said, irritably.

Guerrilla smiled. “Hmmm.” He paced, calmly. “Tell me, how many of the so-called ‘World Warriors’ actually have families that one can target?”

Chun-Li’s anger began to slowly boil up.

“The number is small. But… there’s more to it. Of all the fighters, you two, along with people like Guile, Ken, even Cammy, played the most integral, key parts in the bringing down the original Shadaloo and killing Bison. Basically, I’m looking to _not_ make the same mistakes as my predecessor.”

“What do you mean?” Ryu asked.

“Bison went in, fists flying, you could say,” Guerrilla explained. “He relied on his power to carry him through. While that’s a strategy that can work, I’m smarter than him. I’d rather rule without having to fight the opposition. Well, at least, not all or several at one time.”

Chun-Li’s eyes widened. “That’s all I was? That’s what my daughter is to you? Your test? Just to see how far one of us would go for our loved ones?!”

Guerrilla smiled. “You’re as smart as I thought, Chun-Li.”

Ryu’s anger boiled over. “You… you kidnapped a child! JUST TO PROVE A POINT!”

Guerrilla held up a finger. “Correction: to test a theory.” He lowered his hand. “Experiments. They have their downsides.”

That was the last straw. Ryu didn’t need or want to hear anything else Guerrilla had to say. With a roar, Ryu charged at Guerrilla. Guerrilla dodged every punch and even a kick. Guerrilla ducked under one more punch and got behind Ryu, slapping him hard enough on the back to the throw Ryu off-balance. Ryu regained his footing and took a stance against Guerrilla, who was still smiling. Not about to be left out, Chun-Li jumped up and tried to kick Guerrilla. Guerrilla dodged her as she came down with the kick. She turned around and tried to land an open palm strike with her left, but Guerrilla dodged. Chun-Li followed up with a right, another dodge. She went for a kick. Guerrilla caught her foot and tossed her toward Ryu, who caught her before she hit the ground. Guerrilla just stood as though he went for a calm walk, not as though he was just in a fight.

“Well,” Guerrilla smiled, “are you two feeling better? Now that you’ve been able to throw your fists at me?”

“Where is Mei?!” Chun-Li shouted as Ryu was still holding on to her. “Where is Chow?”

Guerrilla chuckled. “You’re the detectives. Find them.” He quickly proceeded down the stairs, both his movements and speed impressive for his size.

Chun-Li charged after him, Ryu barely a step behind her. They rushed down the stairs to catch Guerrilla. When they got back to the bottom floor, they opened the doors to the outside to find a group of henchmen waiting to fight them. Ryu and Chun-Li had enough aggression to tear through the henchmen, though it took a while. After fifteen minutes of constant combat, which took them from the hotel to a back alley of Shinjuku, the duo downed all the henchmen.

They thought they were done until they heard a heavy footstep, coupled with a metal clanking together. They looked up to see a large, muscular Japanese man, with a couple of large chains hanging from his belt, approaching them. The man entered a well-educated, kickboxing fighting stance.

“Oh, hell,” Chun-Li cursed.

The kickboxer charged at Ryu and Chun-Li, starting off with a flying kick. They dodged and Ryu went to kick him, but the kickboxer dodged. The kickboxer threw a hook; Ryu ducked under and caught the kickboxer in the side of the abdomen. The kickboxer winced and Ryu followed up with a punch to the other side. The kickboxer blocked and threw a few punches to Ryu’s gut, forcing him back. Chun-Li stepped in and forced both her feet into the kickboxer’s back, causing the kickboxer to stumble. Chun-Li recovered, entered another stance, and rushed in. The kickboxer came up with a backhand, she ducked under, came up with an open-palm uppercut, connecting with the kickboxer’s chin. Chun-Li punched the kickboxer a few more times before the kickboxer caught Chun-Li’s forearm and tried to kick her. She trapped his leg underneath her arm, broke his free of his grip on her arm, and severely fractured his leg with a single chop. The kickboxer retreated in pain, but Chun-Li wasn’t done with him yet. She cartwheeled into a handstand and performed her Spinning Bird Kick, knocking the kickboxer down and out.

Chun-Li stared down at the unconscious fighter after she got back to her feet, breathing hard. She wanted to do more damage. She wanted another fight. She wanted something else to hit.

Ryu walked up to her and put his hand on Chun-Li’s shoulder. “Hey…”

Chun-Li turned around with a fierceness Ryu had never seen in her. She swung her open palm at Ryu, stopping just short of connecting to his face. She blinked, coming back to herself. “R-Ryu…”

Ryu made no move to defend himself. “If you need to hit me, I get it. But, just keep in mind, we’re nowhere near done for the night. We should save our energy for Guerrilla.”

She lowered her hand. She took a deep breath. “Ryu, I…”

“Come on. I think I heard a car speed off. Might have been Guerrilla.” He hurried for the street.

She sighed and followed after him.

They looked in all directions but could see no sign of a car in a hurry or Guerrilla. Ryu grunted. “Dammit!”

Chun-Li looked around then pulled out her phone, calling Cammy. She asked if there was any way to track Guerrilla’s movements. Chun-Li provided Cammy with Guerrilla’s description, ending the call immediately afterward. She looked at Ryu. “What do you wanna do?” she asked.

“Look,” Ryu replied, plainly.

They spent the next two hours, going through the Shinjuku district, looking for anyone who knew anything about Guerrilla and keeping their eyes open for sight of the Neo-Shadaloo commander. After two hours, nothing was turning up.

They went to a side-outdoor restaurant, sitting on the stools as they tried to figure out their next move and getting some food in them for energy. They sat and ate in silence with the emotions of the night still running strong. Chun-Li was still uncomfortable about almost striking Ryu, and Ryu was upset they were no closer to finding Chun-Li’s family. It was starting to get to them. And, in spite of themselves and their anger, both had to silently admit Guerrilla was quite the opponent. Physically and mentally.

Chun-Li’s phone rang; Cammy calling back. Cammy learned someone fitting Guerrilla’s description was seen at the Hilton Hotel in Tokyo.

After getting all the details, Chun-Li asked, “And you’re absolutely sure he’s there?”

“ _Yeah,_ ” Cammy answered. “ _We managed to find some security footage of him coming and going. And double-checked the information. It’s good._ ”

Chun-Li thought it over for a second. “Alright.”

Cammy was concerned. “ _Chun-Li, let me call in some favors. Get some people over there to…_ ”

“No. We can handle it.”

“ _I know. I’m just saying…_ ”

“Thanks, Cammy.” Chun-Li ended the call. She looked at Ryu. “Got his location. Let’s go.”

Minutes later, Chun-Li and Ryu were in the Hilton, riding the elevator to the floor where Guerrilla’s room was. After getting off the elevator, they, resolutely, walked down the hallway, ready for the fight that was coming. They rounded the corner and saw the room door. They were surprised there were no guards in sight. They proceeded with caution toward the door. They looked at each other, ready for this to come to an end. Ryu narrowed his eyes as he moved in front of the door to kick it open.

Except the door beat him to it.

The door flew off its hinges, crashing into Ryu and sending him against the opposite wall.

“Ryu!” Chun-Li looked at the direction of the door just in time to see a massive foot retreat into the darkness.

Guerrilla stepped out, smirking. “I’m surprised you two found me so quickly. Did you have help?”

Rage overcoming her again, Chun-Li charged at Guerrilla, going to a kick. He moved back and, quickly returning to striking distance, punched her in the gut.

It was undeniable the pain Chun-Li felt immediately. She stumbled and collapsed to her knees, doubled over in pain.

“Pretty little bird,” Guerrilla said, towering over her. “Never learned how to take a punch.”

Guerrilla lifted both his fists to pummel her, but Ryu tackled him to the ground, Chun-Li barely got out of the way of their fall.

The two rolled on the ground, hurrying to their feet. Ryu went for a kick, Guerrilla blocked and went for a punch that was deflected. Ryu went for a punch of his own and Guerrilla absorbed the blow with his forearms protecting his face. The fight went like this for several minutes, with Guerrilla eventually forcing Ryu toward the service stairs. Guerrilla had managed to get around Ryu’s attacks and force him against the metal bars of the stairs. Guerrilla held Ryu there, putting his massive hands around Ryu’s throat and squeezing tighter.

As Ryu struggled for air, Guerrilla smiled, devilishly. “Bet you wished you’d never helped her. Eh, Ryu?”

Suddenly, a kick connected to the back of Guerrilla’s knees. He buckled, causing him to lose his grip on Ryu. Ryu fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air. Guerrilla looked up to see Chun-Li standing over him. She kicked Guerrilla in the face as hard she could, removing a tooth in the process.

Guerrilla let out a infuriated roar.

Guerrilla lunged forward and grabbed Chun-Li by the throat, quickly forcing her against the wall, the back of her head slamming against the wall hard enough to leave her vastly disoriented; the blow was strong enough to leave a crack in cement. Ryu tried to jump in, but Guerrilla whipped around with a kick, sending Ryu flying back and down on flight of the stairs. Ryu landed with a thud and groaned as he tried to get up.

Guerrilla turned his attention back to Chun-Li, who was still dazed. She saw him slowly advance and did what she could to fight. Chun-Li tried her best to hit him, but Guerrilla caught her right arm as she went for a punch. He lifted her up over his head, having a firm grip of her throat and leg.

“Let’s see if birds can fly,” Guerrilla threatened.

“NO!” Ryu screamed as he reached out for her.

Guerrilla threw Chun-Li down the stairwell.

She ricocheted off of the metal bars most of the way down, before landing with a loud thud on the ground below, motionless and unconscious.

Guerrilla scoffed. “I guess not.”

Ryu didn’t bother with Guerrilla. He rushed down the stairwell to check on Chun-Li as Guerrilla left the scene.

Ryu kneeled down next to Chun-Li, propping her head up. “Oh, my God! No.” He was looking for any form of life. He wasn’t seeing any. “Chun-Li? Chun-Li?! CHUN-LI!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My friend and one of my biggest supporters, AlwaysDoubted, is here! AND THANK YOU, MY FRIEND! Glad to "see" you again!

** Chapter 7 **

Chun-Li woke up in a hospital room, dazed and confused. She felt bandages and gauze all over her body and, at first, couldn’t move at all. Every muscle in her body was frighteningly tense, just turning her head put her in a lot of pain. She looked all around until she focused on the window next to her bed. It was night and she was still in Tokyo. She looked around and saw Ryu, fast asleep in a chair, leaning on his fist.

“Ryu?” Chun-Li’s voice came out so quietly she wasn’t sure he heard her.

He did. Ryu took a sharp breath and woke up. He met her stare and jumped to his feet. “Hey.” He walked over, “Hey, you’re awake!”

“What…” She tried to sit up.

“Don’t move.” He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, keeping her from sitting up. “You took a really hard fall.” He paused. “Actually… hitting those rails saved you from a broken back or…” He winced. “Or worse.”

“How long… have-have I been…”

He sighed. “Two days.”

Her eyes went down toward her body, “So… what… what’s wrong…”

“The doctors said… severe trauma to your spine. And you had a really bad concussion. They said anyone else would’ve died. I told them you’re the strongest woman in the world. They agreed.”

Despite Ryu’s attempt, Chun-Li found no comfort in his compliment.

Ryu didn’t except her to. “You should be fine in a few of days, but… the doctors said you shouldn’t move much now. Actually, they said to avoid too much activity for a while.”

Chun-Li remembered the impact after hitting the first rail but couldn’t recall anything after that. “Guerilla!” she gasped. “Wh-where’s…”

“He got away. Cammy’s using everything she has to try and track him down.”

“But…”

“I couldn’t go after him. I wasn’t going to leave you lying to chase a bad guy. I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, Chun-Li.”

That news hurt. Not that Ryu didn’t go after him, but the fact that Guerrilla got away. Chun-Li stared straight up at the ceiling.

They came so close. So close to catching Guerrilla. But he got away.

And the reason he got away was because he beat her. Chun-Li fought as hard as she could to save Mei, to save Chow, and it wasn’t enough. Her best wasn’t enough. She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand this constant failure, this losing at almost every turn. For the first time she could remember, her strength faltered.

Tears fell from Chun-Li’s eyes.

Ryu was almost at a loss at seeing her tears. “Chun-Li?”

Chun-Li didn’t want to talk but her mouth opened and the words spilled out. “I can’t stand this. I can’t stand _any_ of this, Ryu. I want Mei back. I want to know my brother is safe. I want this to be over. I don’t care if we catch Guerrilla. I just want my family back.”

He took hold of her hand. “It’ll be okay.”

She sniffed. “No, it won’t.” She slowly pulled her hand away from his. “It’s all screwed up. It’s all wrong. Everything.” She looked at her friend. “My life’s a mess. My daughter is gone, and my brother. I’ve lost the only connection to getting them both back. He beat me. Tossed me down a stairwell. Tossed me away like I was nothing. Now… I’m lying in a hospital bed, almost paralyzed. And to make it even worse… I’m crying.” She wept. “I’m crying and I can’t make it stop!” She did her best to stop the tears, but it was no use. She pulled what strength she had left and wiped her eyes with her hand, despite the action being excruciatingly painful. She looked at the smeared tears on her hand, hating the sight of it. “I don’t want to be this way! I don’t want to be damaged and struggling! I don’t want to… be this… this _weak!_ I’m supposed to be strong! I’m supposed to always be strong!” She tried to stop crying again but couldn’t. “But… I can’t. Not this time. Because… I just want them back. That’s all I want.”

Ryu had never seen her like this. Chun-Li had never cried before, at least not in front of him, and never, in his life before all of this started, would Ryu have imagined Chun-Li was the kind of person who worried about appearing weak.

“I already told you,” Ryu said, “‘weak’ is never a word I would use to describe you.”

Chun-Li scoffed. “Well. I would.”

“Then stop. Because you’re not.”

She looked at him, incredulously and upset. “How can you say that?! Look at me! I’m a mess! Guerrilla was right to come after me first.”

He jerked his head back. “Why?”

“Are you serious? Because I’m an easy target. Easy to single out. Easy to make weak.”

He let out a heated breath. “What makes you say… _any_ of that?”

“Because he was right,” she declared. “Because, at this point, I don’t care about catching him anymore. I just want my family back. I’ll let him do whatever he wants, if I can have them back. I mean… what I could really do to stop him? I was so easy to get to, after all. So easy to beat.”

Ryu had heard enough. He was struggling to steady his breathing. He was sick of this defeatist attitude, since it wasn’t the Chun-Li he knew at all. He had to break her out of this.

“Why?!” Ryu asked, indignantly. “Because you travelled all over the eastern part of the world to search for your daughter? For a brother you didn’t know you had? Because you’re fighting against a terrorist organization, almost, single-handedly? Or is it because you’ve been going this intense with almost no sleep by comparison? Or is it because you’ve been fighting through armies of criminals? Maybe it’s because you took a fall that would’ve killed most people that you’ll be able to walk away from in a couple of days or so? Or is it because you’re going through this because you care more for a little girl you adopted and a brother you had no idea about than you do for your own well-being? Yeah. Yeah, you’re weak. And Bison was really a good person, deep down. And Vega is just a nice guy who happens to love masks and claws.”

Chun-Li was shocked. Ryu had never spoken like this before, especially to her. She was positive that was the most words he’d ever said in a row.

He let out an exasperated sigh. “This isn’t you, Chun-Li. This… tone… this is not you. I understand you’re upset, mad, and depressed. But the Chun-Li I know wouldn’t just breakdown and give up. You can be mad or depressed and you can even feel like giving up. We all do. We all want to… but we don’t, especially not you. That’s not and has never been who you are. Guerrilla set us up. Had us chase him around the world. He pushed us on purpose, made us exhausted and sluggish. He set this up, so he would win. That’s what men like him do. Cowards! They can’t do it on their own, so they make things go in their favor. So, don’t lie there and say you’re weak when all that happened was is you fell into his trap.”

He stopped and looked around, figuring out what to say next before gazing back at Chun-Li. “You wanna give up? Fine. I’ll go get Mei and Chow and bring them back to you. Because _I’m_ not giving up. I’ll just go alone. But if you find you can be the Chun-Li I know, the Chun-Li you’ve always been who never gives up, then you can join me. Because I can’t let him get away with this! I can’t let him get away with kidnapping your family and damn-near paralyzing you! I won’t!”

Ryu felt like he was just finished another fight, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He wasn’t used to talking that much and he had no idea where that lecture even came from. He went and sat back down in the chair he was just sleeping in.

They sat in silence for a long time. Ryu staring the floor with his arms folded and Chun-Li staring at him, neither sure what to say next. Ryu felt as though she needed to hear what he said, but he wasn’t sure if he should’ve said it like he did. He wanted to break her out of this depression but was worried he went about it the wrong way. Chun-Li, on the other hand, felt like he was nothing but justified in what he said and how he said it. She needed to hear it. She was just feeling sorry for herself, and she needed him to be harsh on her to snap her out of it.

She needed him to be strong.

She needed him to be himself.

She needed him.

Ryu looked up and saw her gazing at him and sighed, unfolding his arms. He felt bad for scolding her. “Listen, Chun-Li…”

“I love you, Ryu,” Chun-Li declared.

He stopped, his mind racing to comprehend her words. His eyes grew wide. “What?”

“I love you. I have for a long time. Just could never say it before.” The admission came out so easily, it would’ve scared her had it not been for everything else she had just gone through.

He blinked rapidly, still in shock. “What?”

“It’s why Neo-Shadaloo targeted you,” she admitted further. “I do searches for you… every week… close to everyday… to see where you are, where you’ve been, rumors of where you’re going or what direction you might be heading. I’ve even asked old Interpol friends about you. Guerilla must’ve had my computer hacked and saw my searches. I think a few people in Interpol may be moles, relaying information to Neo-Shadaloo. Guerrilla must’ve put two and two together.”

Ryu sat frozen, still in shellshock. He finally moved, shaking his head and letting out a breath. “Chun-Li. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Chun-Li answered. “I know how important your travels are to you. How much training matters to you. And, quite frankly at first, I thought it was just me admiring you.” She looked at the floor. “It wasn’t until this past year that I knew it was something more.” She looked back at him. “I lied to you. I’m sorry. More than anything… _that_ was the real reason I called you.” Tears were starting to flow again but her voice stayed strong. “I just needed you around. Just to be there. I didn’t care if you didn’t know. I didn’t care if you didn’t feel the same. I just needed to know that you were there. And… when you arrived… and I saw how much this mattered to you… how hard you’ve been working to help me… it’s been everything I could do to not say this sooner.”

“Chun-Li…”

She shook her head, the pain no longer an issue. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I… just wanted to say it. Get it off my chest.” She looked down. “I mean… I’m one spinal shock away from being paralyzed. I couldn’t let another opportunity go by and not let it all out.”

He sat in silence, still at a loss of what to say.

“Ryu,” she continued, seeing his conflict, “the two of us are who we are. There’s no changing that. I’m not expecting you to change and I wouldn’t ask that of you. But…” She sighed. “…but… I don’t want you to think… everything you just said was wrong… or not what I needed to hear. Because it was what I needed. You’ve been what I needed… through all of this.” She gave the best shrug she could, “I just really want to thank you.”

He just sat, staring at her. He could see how she was just trying to get everything out. He saw how this situation was paining her; so much so that even that, seemingly, little bit of emotional baggage was too much extra to carry. He leaned over and clasped his hands together. “I’m sorry, Chun-Li. So sorry that you’re going through all of this.”

“Don’t be.” She smiled. “It’s enough that you even came in the first place. No matter what happens next… it was enough you did that. And you’ve only helped ever since. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve already done.”

He appreciated her gratitude, but _he_ wasn’t satisfied with all he’d done. The task was not complete. And she couldn’t complete it. He made up his mind. “And I’m gonna do more.”

She narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean?”

He stood up and took the cell phone that Cammy gave to them.

“Ryu?”

“Be right back.” He walked into the hallway, leaving Chun-Li perplexed .

Once the door closed, Ryu dialed Cammy’s number.

It rang until Cammy answered. “ _Hey, Ryu? Is that you?_ ”

“Yeah,” he answered.

She went into a small panic. “ _Is everything alright? Did something happen? How’s Chun-Li?_ ”

“Awake. In a lot of pain and not really moving, but awake.”

She took a deep breath. “ _At least, she’s conscious. That’s a relief._ ”

“Yeah,” he said. “Cammy, I need you to do something for me.”

“ _What’s up?_ ”

“Is there any way I can get a message to Guerrilla? I mean, not directly or anything but can you get one to him?”

She was quiet for a while. “ _Umm, I think so. I mean, we can spread it through the underworld. With as connected as he is, he should get it pretty fast. I’m guessing that’s how he avoids detection. Might not take long at all, actually. What message am I sending?_ ”

“Tell him Ryu wants a one-on-one fight. For everything. For Chun-Li’s daughter and her brother. For him to leave her alone. Wherever he wants… but we settle this. Just him and me. Once and for all.”


	8. Chapter 8

** Chapter 8 **

**_Mogadishu, Somalia._ **

Dressed in his traditional karate gi garb, Ryu walked through the streets, looking for any sign of the Neo-Shadaloo soldiers or Guerrilla. The streets were populated and the temperature was burning but nothing seemed out of the usual. He journeyed through the city, as obvious as he possibly could be, as he waited to be greeted by Guerrilla’s men. After a few minutes, Ryu felt a sharp blade pressed against his back.

“Ryu, Ryu, Ryu,” Vega said. “You do have guts, I’ll give you that.”

Ryu looked over his shoulder and noticed that Vega was wearing a cloak as oppose to his mask.

“More than you,” Ryu said.

“I’m hurt,” Vega replied. “But not as much as you’re about to be.”

“Can we get this over with?”

Vega smiled. “Right this way.”

Ryu went the direction Vega guided him toward. They went to the edge of the Shebelle River where soldiers with assault rifles were guarding a boat. Ryu got on board, followed by Vega, and the boat headed upriver.

* * *

**_Tokyo, Japan. Yesterday Evening._ **

_Right after speaking with Cammy, Ryu walked back into Chun-Li’s room. He put the phone on the table next to his chair._

_“Ryu, what are you planning?” Chun-Li asked._

_He looked at her and sat down. “I’m going after Guerrilla.”_

_Her eyes widened. “Wha--by yourself?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Why?”_

_“For you.”_

_His answer, along with the speed it came and the emotion in his voice, caught her off guard. “What?”_

_“I don’t want to see you like this,” he said. “And I won’t let Guerrilla keep doing this to you. And the only way this can end is by facing him head-on.”_

_“He’ll kill you.”_

_“He’ll try.”_

_She did her best to move to her side. She didn’t succeed but managed to sit up a little. “Ryu. Please. Don’t. I dragged you into this. This is all my fault. I don’t want you to get hurt. I… I don’t want you to… go and get yourself killed… especially not for me.”_

_He walked over to her. “And if I just sit here… we have no idea what will happen to Mei and Chow. We don’t even know where they are. This way… you can, at least, get them back.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I’m going to make a trade with him. I go to face Guerrilla, wherever he is. He sends Mei and Chow here.”_

_She stared at him, shocked. “While you do what? Get yourself killed?!”_

_“No,” he replied. “Like I said… I fight him.”_

_“No! You know what that psycho is capable of! He won’t fight you fair! He probably won’t even send Mei and Chow back.”_

_“I gotta take that chance.”_

_She couldn’t forget about his earlier answer. “But… for me? Why?”_

_“Because… you’ve gone through a lot,” he answered. “All this for your family. That’s something special. It’s something that isn’t everywhere and it’s really special in you. I don’t want Guerrilla to take that from you. Or keep you from doing it any longer than he already has.”_

_She fought to keep tears down. “Ryu… I don’t want to lose you…”_

_He took hold of her hand and lightly squeezed it. “You won’t.”_

* * *

**_Shebelle River, Somalia. Present._ **

Ryu sat looking at Vega as soldiers sat on either side of both of them. Ryu’s expression never changed as he continued to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. About an hour later, the boat came to a stop. They got out, finding themselves in a jungle where a military truck with a tarp-covered bed was waiting for them. Once they boarded the back, the truck drove deep into the forest until it opened up to a desert. They drove for about 15 minutes before coming to large warehouse with a small airfield set up around it, situated in the middle of the desert. Exiting the truck, they walked inside to see the warehouse, which doubled as a large hangar for military jet planes. Ryu looked around and took notice of all the personnel working on the planes, moving crates, and stocking weapons. They looked like they were preparing for war.

“RYU!”

Ryu looked to see Guerrilla standing on a catwalk the crossed the width of the warehouse.

Guerrilla rested his hands on the railing, peering down at Ryu. “I was a little surprised to hear you wanted to face me.”

“Where are Mei and Chow?” Ryu asked.

Guerrilla smiled. “Straight to business, huh? Alright.” He waved over and two soldiers brought the young girl, Mei, and the man who showed a semblance to Chun-Li, Chow, brought on to the catwalk next to him. “Satisfied?”

“Fine. Now, let them go.”

“Oh, no! Not yet.”

Ryu just narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t surprised by that response at all.

“You wanted a fight, correct?” Guerrilla asked. “Well, you’re gonna get one. In fact, you’re gonna get three. The first will, of course, be against Vega.”

Vega looked at Ryu and smiled. Ryu took notice of Vega’s grin, but Ryu looked back up at Guerrilla.

“The second…” Guerrilla chuckled, “well, the second will be against the newest member of Neo-Shadaloo. You gotta get past Vega to find out who that is.” He leaned on the rails of the catwalk. “And, if you make it past the second fight, the third… will be against me.”

“And if I win?” Ryu asked.

“All of you walk right out of here, free and clear.”

Ryu knew there would be a catch to this. In fact, he was expecting Guerrilla to pull something like this. Guerrilla put too much effort into this whole operation, and he was far too cunning for it to be that easy. Regardless, Ryu had to make this work. He looked at Mei’s scared little face and Chow’s evidently beaten up one, and remembered Chun-Li’s struggle for them both.

Ryu looked back at Guerrilla. “Agreed.”

Guerrilla smiled, clearly enjoying this. “Well, then! CLEAR A SPACE! GIVE THESE BOYS SOME ROOM! LET THE GAAAAAAAAAAAAMES… BEGIN!”

* * *

**_Tokyo, Japan. Yesterday Evening._ **

_It only took about five hours for Guerrilla to hear Ryu’s challenge via Cammy’s connections. Ryu and Chun-Li were asleep until the phone call woke them up. Ryu, hurriedly, answered the phone. Cammy explained to Ryu that Guerrilla, reportedly, happily accepted his challenge. After getting all the information about the where, when, and how, Ryu thanked Cammy and ended the call, placing it near Chun-Li’s bed._

_“It’s done,” Ryu informed._

_“So, what now?” Chun-Li asked._

_“I get on a plane and go to Somalia. Someone will find me.”_

_“And?”_

_He shrugged._

_She sat up as best she could, leaning over on her arm. “Don’t do this. Please! It’s not worth putting your life on the line for.”_

_“Name one thing that’s worth more than your daughter’s life.”_

_She opened her mouth but, as hard as she tried, nothing came to mind. “That… th-that isn’t fair.”_

_“Maybe not,” he said. “But it’s true. Leave this to me, Chun-Li.” He started to head for the door._

_She leaned over as far as she could. “Ryu,_ please! _”_

_He stopped._

_“I know you don’t feel the same way for me like I do for you! But… please! Don’t do this! I can’t lose Mei! I can’t lose Chow! But I can’t live with myself if I sent you to your death!”_

_“You didn’t.” He looked at her. “This is my choice, Chun-Li. You put everything on the line to get them. Now… it’s my turn.”_

_“But… but, Ryu… this isn’t your fight.”_

_“It became mine the second he targeted you,” he said. “Not that you can’t handle yourself… but an attack on one… is an attack on all. But… besides all that, I will not let him get away with what he’s done to you.”_

_As touched she was, she couldn’t rid herself of the guilt that was plaguing her. “Ryu, please. I don’t want to lose you.”_

_He walked over to her, stopping by her bed. He crouched down, so they were eye-to-eye._

_“Everything will be fine, Chun-Li,” he said. “I promise. I’m not going in as unprepared as you might think. More to the point, I’m not going in as unprepared as Guerrilla might think. I actually did think this through and have a plan. But you have to leave this to me.”_

_“But…” she started to say._

_“Do you trust me?” he interrupted._

_“What?”_

_“Do. You. Trust me?”_

_The question caught her by surprise. As did his close proximity. She couldn’t help but be a little warm and short of breath over having him this close to her. But, that wasn’t the focus. The focus was his question. And her answer._

_With his voice and the look in his eyes, she did completely. “Yes.”_

_He put his hand on top of hers. “Then, trust me.”_

_He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers._

_Chun-Li’s eyes grew wide._

_Ryu pulled back._

_She was still staring at him. Her cheeks bright red._

_“I’ll bring them,” he said. “_ I’ll _be back. I promise.”_

* * *

**_Neo-Shadaloo Base, Somalia. Present._ **

The Neo-Shadaloo soldiers quickly moved all the equipment and crates out of the way to clear a space for Ryu to go through his fights. In no time whatsoever, it seemed, a makeshift fighting ring was formed.

Vega put his claws on. “Oh, how I’ve waited for this!”

Ryu got in a fighting stance.

“I forgot you’re not one for witty banter. Just so you know: this won’t be like London.” Vega put his mask on. “This one is for real.” He entered into a fighting stance. “Shall we begin?”

Without a word, Ryu jumped at Vega, coming down with a kick. Vega moved out of the way. Ryu dodged a swipe of Vega’s blade, then another and another. Ryu found an opening and punched Vega over and over again in the gut. Vega backed up, Ryu followed with a kick to Vega’s right arm. Vega stumbled back, holding up a guard with his claw arm. Ryu charged back in; Vega pushed past the pain and rushed back to meet his nemesis. Ryu went for kick that Vega ducked under, performing a slide on his knees. Vega quickly got to his feet and turned around quick enough to catch Ryu with a kick to the ribs. Ryu reacted but came back with a left punch to Vega’s kidneys. Vega ducked down, coming up with a claw strike. Having the attack well-scouted, Ryu moved out of the way, caught Vega’s arm, and hit Vega, multiply and mercilessly, in the chest with his forearm. Ryu finally let Vega go and Vega stumbled back, breathing hard as air flow to his chest was greatly constricted.

“What’s wrong, Vega?” Ryu asked. “You’re usually more ready to fight than this.”

Vega gritted his teeth. He leapt in the air with a yell, coming down the stomp. Ryu dodged the attack and the follow-up claw swipe. Ryu got in close and punched Vega in the gut, making it even harder for Vega to breathe than it already was. Vega tried to move faster but his lack of ability to gather a full breath was evident, hampering his movements. Vega went for a claw strike and left himself open just a second too long.

All Ryu needed was that second.

Preceded with a spin, Ryu gave an elbow hard enough to dent Vega’s metal mask, breaking Vega’s nose underneath.

Vega yelled in pain, immediately ripping his mask off. He tossed the mask aside and grabbed hold of his face. He looked at the blood on his hands, which was flowing from his broken nose. “RYU! YOU…”

Vega didn’t get to finish his sentence as Ryu came down from the sky with a kick directly to the side of Vega’s face. Instant knockout.

Ryu stood over Vega’s fallen form. “Sorry, Vega. But I’m in a hurry.” He looked up at Guerrilla, who had a less than pleased look on his face.

Guerrilla swung his dreadlocks out of the way of his face. He spit. “Not bad.”

“Save it and send in the next challenger. Chun-Li wants her family back.”

“And what do you want, Ryu?”

“Nothing you can give.”

Guerrilla smiled. “On the contrary. I have something… even you want.” He pointed at the entrance of the warehouse.

The door opened. A man stood at the entrance, almost blocking all light coming in from the outside.

Ryu turned around and narrowed his eyes.

A seven-foot-tall muscular frame.

Tanned skin.

Bald head.

His fists and feet were taped.

Blue shorts with a red stripe on both sides.

An eye patch.

And, the most distinguishing feature, the large scar that Ryu caused across his chest and abdomen.

Sagat.


	9. Chapter 9

** Chapter 9 **

Ryu stared up at Sagat, both with looks of steel on their faces. The memories of their first fight flashed in their minds. It wasn’t a pleasant day for either of them. From Sagat’s scar and Ryu’s loss of control, it was a day both fighters had constant reminders of. And, while Sagat had healed from the physical torment from which his scar was the result, Ryu still felt the guilt over the loss of control he felt that day.

But Ryu had no time to dwell on that now. “Sagat.”

“Ryu,” Sagat breathed out.

“Working for Shadaloo again?”

Sagat smiled. “Hate to disappoint you.”

“I thought you had more honor than that,” Ryu declared.

“Hmph! Maybe I do.”

“Prove it.”

Ryu jumped up with a knee. Sagat dodged. Sagat came with a backfist that Ryu just barely managed to duck underneath. He came up with a slightly, powered-up Shoryuken. Sagat jumped back.

Sagat landed away from Ryu. “Uh, uh, uh!” He waved his finger. “Can’t beat me with the same trick, Ryu.”

Ryu knew this was true. Sagat wouldn’t fall to the same technique. At least, not right away. Ryu charged back in, swinging his fists with all he had. Sagat dodged Ryu, blocked one punch, and came back with punch to Ryu’s gut. Ryu stumbled back as Sagat advanced.

After another punch from Sagat to Ryu, Mei looked away. She didn’t want to watch her mother’s friend being beat up. She recognized Ryu, immediately, from all the searches Chun-Li did for him. Mei asked Chun-Li once if Ryu was her boyfriend. Chun-Li turned red and changed the subject. It wasn’t until now that Mei realized she never got an answer.

Chow was amazed at all Ryu had gone through. While Chow knew Ryu was mainly doing this as a favor to his sister, Chow couldn’t get over just how far Ryu was going for this. He was even more amazed that Chun-Li had such loyal friends.

Desperate to try and stop this, Chow turned toward Guerrilla, pleading, “Guerrilla! He’s had enough! End this!”

Guerrilla just chuckled. “No. He wanted this. Then he’s going to get it.” He looked down at Mei. “Come on, little girl. Look at your mommy’s friend lose.”

They all looked back to see Ryu skidding across the ground from Sagat’s latest attack. Ryu kipped up as Sagat ran at him. Ryu caught Sagat’s incoming attack and retaliated with an elbow across Sagat’s jaw, followed by a kick to the gut. Fist, fist, kick, kick, uppercut. Sagat stumbled back. Ryu jumped up for a spin kick. Sagat ducked it, surprising tactic for his size and came with an open palm across the side of Ryu’s face. Sagat grabbed Ryu and pulled him into a knee in the gut. Despite the pain shooting through him, Ryu pushed himself away from Sagat and jumped back. Ryu launched himself into the air and came down with a kick. Sagat caught Ryu’s leg and used Ryu’s momentum, as well as some of his own, to toss Ryu into nearby crates.

“TIGER!” Sagat slammed his fists next to each other to unleash the energy shot at Ryu. The blast zone exploded.

The smoke cleared to reveal Ryu lying in the wreckage, burn spots on his clothes and smoke coming off his body.

He wasn’t moving.

As Mei and Chow stood stunned, Guerrilla laughed, triumphantly. “Well done!” he shouted.

Sagat looked up at Guerrilla and nodded.

Guerrilla came down and walked to where Ryu was still lying, Sagat towering over Ryu as well. Guerrilla smiled at his victory. If Ryu could be toppled, then the rest of his allies would fall like dominos. All Guerrilla had to do was remember how to break each and every one of them down.

“Well,” Guerrilla said, “it seems these past few days were too much for him.”

“Hmmm,” Sagat groaned.

Guerrilla patted Sagat on the shoulder, “Since you defeated him, please, Sagat, do the honors and rid us of this nuisance.”

“With pleasure.” Sagat leaned down and picked Ryu up by the collar of his gi. Sagat gathered ki in his other hand, formed a fist and drew back.

Guerrilla was ecstatic at the victory that was about to be his. He couldn’t stop grinning. Nothing could stop him now.

Suddenly, Sagat let the energy fade, releasing his fist, much to the confusion of Guerrilla.

“What the hell are you doing?” Guerrilla asked.

Suddenly and uncharacteristically, Sagat smiled. “Is that enough for you?”

Suddenly, Ryu smiled. “More than enough.” His eyes flew open.

“WHAT?!” Guerrilla screamed.

Ryu kicked Guerrilla in the chin, sending Guerrilla back. Sagat let Ryu go and they both got into fighting stances.

Guerilla rubbed his chin as his soldiers moved to guard him. “SAGAT!”

Sagat smiled. “Like Ryu said… I have more honor.”

Guerrilla gritted his teeth. “KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!”

Soldiers surrounded Ryu and Sagat, causing them to stand-to-back. The soldiers started cocking their guns back, getting ready to fire.

“When does the next part of your plan kick in, Ryu?” Sagat asked.

Ryu heard helicopters fast approaching. “Right now.”

Men tried to shout out warnings but it was too late. Explosions went off all around the warehouse. Interpol soldiers stormed in, dressed in desert fatigues, and began firing on the Neo-Shadaloo combatants. Guerilla ducked for cover, grabbing a gun to return fire. Ryu and Sagat fought off the immediate soldiers, but looked up to see Guerrilla with his gun aimed at Ryu.

Ryu and Sagat braced to dodge the gunshot.

Suddenly, Guerrilla was kicked him from behind by someone, forcing the gun from his hands. The interceptor was clad in his trademark red gi with his blonde hair hanging loose and free. Always with a smile on his face, stood Ryu’s best friend, Ken Masters.

“Sorry, there, pal!” Ken said. “Can’t go havin’ ya shoot my brother.”

Guerrilla groaned and jumped to his feet. He flipped over Ken just as more of Guerrilla’s soldiers moved in to protect their commander. Gunfire from both sides erupted more as more Interpol soldiers from outside filled the warehouse. As they ducked for cover, Ryu, Ken, and Sagat lost sight of Guerrilla in the fray.

“Damn it!” Ken shouted. “I don’t see him!”

“Never mind him for now!” Ryu shouted. He pointed to Mei and Chow on the catwalk.

The three warriors fought their way up to the catwalk, on their way to Mei and Chow. Ken and Sagat did most of the heavy lifting to let Ryu catch his breath. They also knew the fight with Guerrilla belonged, solely, to Ryu and wanted to give him a chance to catch his breath. They got through some of Guerrilla’s more skilled soldiers, though it wasn’t easy. The Neo-Shadaloo fighters were well-versed in fighting techniques that none of the men were readily familiar with and powerful enough to see why they were Guerrilla’s elite. As strong as they were, however, Ryu and his allies were on a mission and would not be denied. After a couple of minutes, they succeeded in getting past the elites and making it to Mei and Chow. Ryu saw looked at the unconscious soldiers while Ken and Sagat kept a lookout for more soldiers.

“It seems we get a reprieve,” Sagat surmised.

“Thankfully,” Ryu responded.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you too much earlier.”

“I’m fine. I managed to dodge the Tiger just in time.”

“And here I was worried my aim was too perfect,” Sagat mused.

“It was,” Ryu admitted. “I _barely_ had time to dodge.”

Sagat chuckled.

Ryu walked to Mei and kneeled down before her. “Hi, Mei. I’m a friend of your mom.”

Mei nodded. “I know. She looks at you on the computer a lot.”

Ryu smiled. “So, I heard.”

Ken let a slight smirk show, “What was that?”

“Don’t start.”

Sagat smiled. “So, you have a fan club, now, Ryu?”

“I guess so.” Ryu looked over at Chow, “And you must be Chun-Li’s brother.”

Chow nodded, nervously.

“I’m Ryu,” Ryu offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“S-Same to you…” Chow replied, shaking his hand.

“She’s got a brother?” Ken asked.

Releasing the handshake, Ryu looked at Ken, “Cammy didn’t tell you?”

“Nope, didn’t really have time. Just met up with her like you said to. All she told me was I was helping you go after a guy who ran a criminal empire and kidnapped Chun-Li’s daughter. All I really needed to know.”

Ryu nodded. “Thanks again for coming, Ken.”

“You know better than that, man,” Ken said. “You call me? I’m there. Anytime.”

Another Neo-Shadaloo soldier ran at them from the opposite side of the catwalk.

Ken smirked and rubbed his fist, “I got him.” He charged at the soldier.

Ken jumped on the rail of the catwalk, using it as a launching point. He kicked the soldier across the face, disorienting him. He delivered a swift punch to the gut of the soldier then gave him a spin kick, knocking him down. There was another elite coming, as well. Ken ran and performed a jump kick, connecting square in the elite’s jaw, taking him out.

Ken scoffed. “Piece of cake.”

The first soldier had gotten up and was going for Ken when Sagat wrapped his massive right arm around the elite soldier’s throat and choked him out.

Ken looked up at Sagat and, after realizing what happened, narrowed his eyes. “I can’t believe I have to thank _you_ for backing me up.”

Sagat just smiled. He looked down and saw Guerrilla running out of a backdoor. “Ryu! Guerrilla’s getting away!”

Ryu shot his eyes toward the direction Guerrilla escaped. “No. He isn’t.” He looked at the approaching Ken and Sagat, then motioned toward Mei and Chow, “Can you two take care of them?”

With a grunt, Sagat nodded, and Ken gave a thumbs up, “You know it. He’s all yours.”

Ryu jumped over the rail, to a tall crate, a smaller crate, then the ground. He landed just as a two of soldiers aimed their assault rifles at him. The soldiers were both taken down, swiftly and viciously, courtesy of Cammy.

“Go get him!” Cammy shouted, holding two smoking sub machineguns. “If you kill him, don’t worry! It’s sanctioned!”

Ryu nodded and headed after Guerrilla.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

He failed.

He couldn’t believe it, but he failed.

Guerrilla’s plan and his empire were crumbling around him.

And, for once, Guerrilla didn’t have a back-up plan. He did the only thing he could do: admit defeat, run, and live to fight another day.

Having exited the warehouse, Guerrilla had just gotten into his personal helicopter on a small helipad. He cursed the fact that he was found out and would have to start all over again. The helicopter was just taking off when Ryu arrived on the concrete landing pad. Guerrilla looked down at the reason for his organization’s downfall and gritted his teeth, “Ryu!”

Ryu charged his hands with energy and launched a Hadouken on the copter’s blades, destroying them and causing the vehicle to spin out of control. The helicopter started to plummet, but Guerrilla opened the door and jumped out just in time before it crashed, landing in a crouching position. Ryu got into a fighting stance as Guerrilla stood on his feet.

Guerrilla stomped toward him, anger and hate raging off of him with every step. “I’m going to rip you to pieces!”

Ryu stood ready.

Once he was close to Ryu, Guerrilla swung his fist. Ryu blocked, ducked, and swept Guerrilla’s feet from under him. Ryu flipped and came down with a kick on Guerrilla’s chest. Guerrilla groaned and quickly got back to his feet, entering a boxing stance.

“You didn’t beat me last time,” Guerrilla taunted. “And you had help. What makes you think you can take me this time?”

Ryu said nothing.

Guerrilla couldn’t tell if Ryu was being affected by his attempted mind games or not. Of everyone, Guerrilla had determined Ryu would be the hardest to read.

Guerrilla charged at Ryu and started swinging again. Ryu kept ducking under Guerrilla’s punches and picking his spots to punch and kick Guerrilla. This kept up for several minutes and, while getting in some shots here and there, Guerrilla was expanding more energy and taking far more punishment than Ryu. Ryu remembered the last fight they had, vividly, and was careful not to fall into the trap of being hit by Guerrilla too often. As much as Guerrilla was an arrogant blowhard, he was a frighteningly hard puncher. Ryu knew was he had to get in as many attacks as he could and stay out of Guerrilla’s reach. If Ryu was caught by too many of Guerrilla’s strikes, he’d lose easily.

After a combination of a punch and three kicks from Ryu, one kick landing in the villain’s gut, Guerrilla stumbled back. Guerrilla growled at Ryu. “YOU THINK THAT’S IT?! YOU THINK I’M DONE?! NOT EVEN CLOSE!”

Ryu just held his fight stance.

Guerrilla started gathering energy. The energy grew stronger and more sinister. It soon formed a dark green and black aura around his body. His eyes turned pure white, similar to Bison’s. He got into another fighting stance. “Play time’s over, Ryu.”

Guerrilla rushed at Ryu and punched at him. Ryu dodged as before, but even Guerrilla’s misses carried his aura with them. With every blow Ryu dodged, he felt a little more disoriented. Whatever the aura was, it was strong, even when it missed. Ryu tried to shake off the feeling in time to dodge the next attack but couldn’t. Guerrilla caught Ryu with a right to the jaw, followed by a straight left to the chest. Ryu fell back and rolled on the ground. Ryu stopped and got to his knees to see Guerrilla smiling.

“Feel it yet, Ryu?” Guerrilla asked. “You’re not going to win this.”

While Ryu had faced considerably strong opponents before, Guerrilla was different. So very different.

Getting back to his feet, Ryu couldn’t help but ask one question, “What are you?”

Guerrilla chuckled. “What am I? A valid question, coming from you, I suppose. I’m the results of what, some might call, a horrible childhood.” He spread his arms out, “What you see before you is the result of a project of an organization so secret, I don’t even know who they are. And don’t think I have looked into it. Some say CIA, others say some group out of western Africa, while still others say an Asian syndicate with an interest in bioresearch. Must’ve gotten me from birth.” He scoffed, “I don’t know and I don’t care. What I do know and care about is how they enhanced me. At age 8, I was solving math problems that doctors with PhDs couldn’t figure out. At age 14, I could rip a 4-door sedan in half. At 16…” He smiled, “I gave them a whole new meaning to the term ‘teenage rebellion.’ But that’s neither here nor there. To go back to your original question, what you are looking at… what I am… is progress. Not perfection, but progress. See, Ryu… I’m better than you. Physically, mentally, even emotionally. To that end, you must know it is pointless to face me. Like I said, you can’t win this fight.”

Unfazed by Guerrilla’s threats or power, Ryu stood back and resumed his fighting posture. “I’ve heard it before.”

Guerrilla scoffed. “Maybe. But never from me.” He charged in.

They entered a fight for the ages. Every blow was, masterfully, done in execution, defense, or deflection. Both knew the importance of this fight. Guerrilla needed this victory if, for no other reason, than to do what Bison couldn’t and defeat Ryu, and Ryu was going to bring Guerrilla to justice and make him pay for everything he did to Chun-Li. They fought hard, putting everything they had on the table.

Despite the energy Guerrilla was giving disorienting him, Ryu managed to fight past it and landed crucial blows on Guerrilla. Stumbling back again, Guerrilla decided to resort to an attack he was saving for when he absolutely had to.

At the rate Ryu was raining down blows on him, Guerrilla decided he absolutely had to.

Guerrilla lifted his arms in the air, his palms facing inward over his head, and a ball of energy formed between him.

Ryu’s eyes widened and his muscles tightened.

“METEOR!” Guerrilla threw the ball of energy at Ryu.

Ryu dodged just as the ground where he was just standing exploded. The blast forced him higher in the air than he intended and caused him to land harder than planned. Ryu got to his feet as quickly as he could, and just caught Guerrilla’s fist coming right at him. Ryu maneuvered to grab Guerrilla’s arm and kicked Guerrilla in the chest as hard as he could. Ryu did so again. And again. And again.

Guerrilla leaned over in pain, once Ryu let him go. Ryu backed up as well, breathing hard. He needed to end this fight and he needed to end it now.

Energy cracked around Ryu in the form of a single strand of lightning.

Guerrilla recognized what that was.

Ryu was powering up for a Hadouken.

Despite his exhaustion and pain, Guerrilla lifted his hands up, again, to power up another Meteor.

Both men formed their hands and got into the stances necessary for their attacks. They knew this was the end of the fight, this was a deciding factor in this struggle, and neither was willing to back down. They had everything to win. And everything to lose.

Soon, they had their respective attacks ready at the exact same time.

“HADOUKEN!” Ryu shouted.

“METEOR!” Guerrilla screamed.

They unleashed their attacks, simultaneously.

The energies sailed toward each other.

The blasts collided in a massive explosion.

Both combatants went flying back before hitting the ground.

They lied motionless for several minutes, having spent so much energy, and struggled to get back up. Guerrilla managed to stand but he was on shaky legs, severely exhausted and desperately trying to get air back. Even his aura had faded. Upon seeing Ryu getting to his feet, Guerrilla tried to form the energy for another Meteor but he was far too exhausted. Despite his own fatigue, Ryu, seeing Guerrilla was struggling to form the power to pull off a Meteor, ran at Guerrilla, fierce and furious.

Ryu started punching and kicking Guerrilla with everything he had. Guerrilla would once and again get in a strike or two, but Ryu was unrelenting. With every blow connected and taken, Ryu saw images of Chun-Li in his mind. Every bit of pain Guerrilla had put her through, just to break her down.

Ryu was going to make Guerrilla pay for all of it. In spades.

Ryu gave Guerrilla one more punch to the face that sent the terrorist reeling back, dazed.

Ryu’s anger was boiling but controlled. There was no evil intent. No Dark Hadou. He wasn’t driven by hate. This was about justice. This is about payback.

With a battle cry, Ryu ran at Guerrilla. Guerrilla growled, gritting his teeth. He swung at Ryu once he was close enough. Ryu ducked under and charged his fist with power. Guerrilla looked down in time to see Ryu coming.

Just not in time to do anything about it.

With fist, with his entire body charged, Ryu came up. With a single, powerful, Earth-shattering twisting uppercut. “SHOOOOORYUUUUUUKEEEEEEEEEN!”

The energy-charged fist surged across Guerrilla’s chest and right against his chin, sending them both rising into the air. Ryu landed in a crouching position as Guerrilla fell a good distance away from on to the sand, landed flat on his back, unconscious and broken.

Ryu stared down at Guerrilla, breathing heavily. The fight was over. He won.

“RYU!” Ken shouted.

Ryu looked to see Ken, Sagat, and Cammy approaching with Mei and Chow in tow. Ken ran up and hugged Ryu, lifting him off the ground.

“Ha-HA!” Ken shouted. “You did it, man!” He put Ryu down.

Ryu sighed in exhaustion. He leaned over, placing his hands on his knees. He looked up at everyone, smiling and catching his breath. “Yeah. Thankfully.”

“Situation’s under control,” Cammy announced. “Good plan, Ryu.”

“Yeah, it was!” Ken agreed. “You impressed me, buddy.”

Ryu smiled. “Figured I needed to make sure this one was thought out. Guerrilla’s not a guy you just go after. Learned that the hard way.”

“What made you so sure he’d contact me?” Sagat asked.

“Because he claims he knows so much about us. I figured he’d know all about you, too. And, since I was coming to him, he’d want to make sure I’d have a strong fighter to face me when I arrived. If, for no other reason, than to make sure I wasn’t at 100% to fight him. I figured Vega would be here, but I wanted to play it safe.”

Everyone stared at Ryu in astonishment at the brilliance of his plan.

Sagat chuckled. “Well planned. I’m a little surprised by that, I must admit.”

Ryu shrugged, “I surprised myself.”

Interpol soldiers rushed on scene and handcuffed the unconscious Guerrilla, preparing to take him away.

Cammy looked all around. “Well, that’s that, then. The rest of the forces are going to come in and clean this mess up. But we’re done, though.”

Ryu nodded then looked at Mei and Chow. “Come on. I think there’s someone who’s been looking for you two.”


	11. Chapter 11

** Chapter 11 **

**_Tokyo, Japan._ **

Chun-Li was trying not to worry but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t heard from Ryu or Cammy in hours, almost a full day. Night had descended on Tokyo again. She looked out of her window at the night sky and the city lights, praying that everything was okay. Several fears did enter her mind, however.

She worried Guerrilla had gotten the better of Ryu, that she would never see Mei again, never meet and get to know Chow, and that Ryu would have died trying to save them both. It was all too much to think about. It was all starting to scare her.

Her door opened.

Chun-Li turned her head to see Mei standing in the doorway.

Instantly, tears formed in Chun-Li’s eyes. She took a sharp breath. “Mei?!”

“Mommy?” Mei asked.

From out of nowhere, Chun-Li found the strength to sit up as Mei came running toward her. They embraced, both having tears fall from their eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Chun-Li whispered. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too,” Mei said.

Chow walked in next.

Chun-Li looked up at him and smiled. “So…” She sniffed. “You must be the cause of all these problems.”

Chow chuckled. “Yeah, that would be me.” He walked up and shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Sister.”

She nodded right back at him. “Same here.”

Cammy walked in next followed by Ken, both exchanging greetings with Chun-Li.

“Ken,” Chun-Li said, relievedly. “I should’ve known.”

“Well, yeah!” Ken smiled. “Ya know I couldn’t miss this.”

Then, much to Chun-Li’s surprise, Sagat walked in.

“Sagat?” Chun-Li asked, surprised. “What are you…”

“Ryu got a hold of me,” Sagat explained, “just before Guerrilla did. Via Cammy, of course. He had a good plan.”

“What plan?”

“Well,” Cammy began, “basically, Ryu made it so we’d find out exactly where Guerrilla was by a tracker he was wearing and Sagat, secretly, got us the location, as well. We snuck the tracker onto to Ryu when he boarded the plane, here, on his way to Somalia. Wasn’t easy. Ryu couldn’t know who was bugging him, and we couldn’t follow him to make sure everything would go right for fear Guerrilla would have him monitored. Same for Sagat. We couldn’t make any move until both signals were coming from the same place. Once we narrowed them both down, we went in. Ryu and Sagat put on a bit of a show until we go there, at the cost of Ryu being roughed up a little. But, all’s well that ends well.”

Ken chuckled. “Who’d a thunk it, huh? Ryu outsmarted a supervillain.”

Chun-Li looked over at Sagat, “And you helped him because…?”

“Paths of vengeance aren’t worth it, I’ve learned,” Sagat answered. “I’m doing everything I can to stay on a more honorable path. That and I do find Guerrilla a particular brand of despicable.”

“Oh.” Chun-Li looked behind them. “And Ryu?”

Ken, Cammy, and Sagat smiled. They stepped out of the way to show a bandaged Ryu leaning against the door frame, with a smile on his face.

Chun-Li smiled. “Thank you.”

Ryu nodded.

* * *

**_The Following Morning._ **

Cammy put herself, Ryu, Ken, Sagat, and Chow in a hotel for the night while Mei stayed at the hospital with Chun-Li. Chun-Li woke up to find Mei asleep in a chair in hospital room. The amount of relief Chun-Li felt at seeing Mei safe could not be measured. It was such a liberation to know this nightmare had finally come to an end. She looked up when she heard the door quietly open as Ryu entered the room.

“Hey,” he greeted, quietly, as to not wake up Mei.

Chun-Li smiled and, softly, replied, “Hi.”

Ryu silently closed the door behind him. He walked over to Chun-Li. “You okay?”

“Much better,” she said. “Thanks.”

“Can you move much more?”

“Are you kidding? When Mei walked in, I almost flew out of this bed to hug her.”

“Good to hear.”

She stared at him, admiringly. “Ryu. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said.

“Yes, I do.”

They both were quiet for a while.

“You’re leaving, right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Me and Ken have something to take care of.”

“I understand. I really do. You did far more than I could’ve ever imagined. I can’t thank you enough for everything.”

He smiled, warmly. “It’s not a good-bye, Chun-Li.”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s like I told you: I’ll be back.”

She smiled. She nodded.

He took hold of her hand, gently squeezing it.

Neither of them said anything. They just smiled at one another. He let go of her hand and headed out of the door, Chun-Li didn’t miss him as he left. She believed he’d be back.

Eventually.

* * *

**_Gouken’s Dojo, Japan. Two Days Later._ **

Ryu and Ken stood at the grave of their master, Gouken. They had just finished their customary ritual of respect they always performed when came to their former dojo. They bowed then rose up.

“What a few days you’ve had,” Ken pointed out.

“Yeah,” Ryu replied.

“So, what’d you wanna talk about? And what was so important we had to come here to do it?”

Ryu paused for a second as he thought about the question. “A life choice.”

“A life choice?” Ken asked. “Like what?”

Ryu looked at Ken, smiled, and looked back at the grave. “There’s a new journey I want to take… that I’m _going_ to take. Just looking for a little guidance. And your advice.”

Ken’s curiosity piqued. “For…”

“It’s… this whole thing with me and Chun-Li.”

“Oh, did she finally tell you she liked ya?”

Ryu didn’t realize Ken’s statement at first. “No, she…” Ken’s words registered, and Ryu looked at him, surprised. “You knew?!”

Ken chuckled, “Oh, gimme a break, Ryu! It wasn’t that hard to tell. Shoot! She’s liked you for a long time, I’d bet.”

Ryu shrugged, “Actually… she said she loves me.”

Ken stopped. His mouth fell open as he blinked. “Whoa.”

“Yep.”

They both stood silence for a long time.

Ken blinked. “So… so… whacha gonna do?”

“It’s why I’m here,” Ryu answered. “Just lookin’ for a little guidance.”

“For what?”

Ryu smiled. “For going to China. To stay.”

Ken gasped, quietly. Then, he smiled.

“I can’t deny Chun-Li has always been a remarkable woman. I’ve always… admired her… found her beautiful. But… never thought of her… in that way. I mean, I’ve never thought of anyone that way. I never even thought of myself as anyone anybody could love.”

“So, you’re doing this ‘cause she said it first?” Ken asked.

“No. I’m doing it because…” Ryu smiled. “…because I can’t stop thinking about her. Can’t stop how I’m feeling about her. She’s been on my mind… for a long time, now.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Ryu groaned, “Stop it.”

“Just saying, just saying,” Ken replied.

Ryu sighed. “I have to see where this goes, Ken. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t. But I have to try.” He paused for a minute. “Am I crazy?”

“Oh, yeah.” Ken, playfully, hit Ryu on the arm, “AND I LOVE IT!”

“I keep forgetting how loud you are.”

“Deal with it! Because this is great!”

“Why?” Ryu asked.

“Are you serious?” Ken replied. “Come on, man! I think you need this! Not for Chun-Li but for you. I mean, for _both_ of you. You both need to do this. You’re both so dedicated to fighting, you forget there’s more to life. I say this is a chance you gotta take.”

“Maybe…” Ryu looked back at the grave marker. “But… it’ll be the first time I’ve done something like this. And… it’s a major decision. One way or the other… life will never be the same. I just wish I knew… what I want to do… is right. That it’s okay.”

They felt a sudden gust of wind. Leaves breezed toward Gouken’s grave marker before they blew up in the air, drawing Ryu’s and Ken’s attention to the sun shining through the trees. The leaves spread out through the air until they were out of sight.

Ken smiled. “I think Master beat me to the answer.”

Ryu smiled, as well. “Subtle as it was.”

“And it’s true. Look, maybe you go and things don’t work it. By the way, that’s so not gonna happen. Just had to say that to… ya know, cover my ‘best friend’ bases.”

Ryu scoffed.

“But maybe you go,” Ken continued, “and you guys work everything out and live a great life… together. And there’s no ‘maybe’ to that. Like I told you a long time ago, you and her…” He held up two fingers, “two of a kind. I was just waiting on both of you to realize it.”

Ryu chuckled, shaking his head.

“Trust me. Trust _yourself_ , man. It’s your life, and I’m still trying to figure out times you made wrong decisions.”

“I’m just worried this will be one.”

Ken patted his best friend’s shoulder, “It won’t.”

Ryu looked back at the marker. He knew what he wanted to do, and he was ready to do it.

They both bowed before the grave marker again. “Thank you, Master,” they both said.

They rose up. Ryu picked up his duffle bag and they started to walk off.

Ryu stopped and looked back at the grave. “I promise I’ll come back and visit. We promised to fight here anyway.” He looked at Ken, “I hope you don’t mind waiting on that, either.”

“Nah,” Ken said. “We can duke it out, anytime. I’ll know where ta find ya, now.”

Ryu and Ken started to make their way off the mountain.

“Speaking of which, still got your phone?” Ken asked.

Ryu reached into his bag and pulled out the cell phone.

“Dang! Thought for sure you’d lost it by now.”

Ryu chuckled, “Yeah.”

* * *

**_Hangzhou, China. Five Days Later._ **

Chun-Li sat in her chair on her patio at home while Mei trained in the yard. Chun-Li had been advised by the doctors to take it easy for a few weeks, a few months to be safe. Though she usually liked to train, with the past few days she experienced, Chun-Li found taking it easy to be good advice. Chun-Li was reading a letter from Chow about cooperating with Interpol and giving all the evidence he needed. Chow also explained, with the way everything was working out, he should be able to come and visit her soon. Chun-Li also heard, from Cammy, Interpol and other law enforcement agencies were able to locate a good portion of Guerrilla’s network, thanks in part to Markway and Santos giving up plenty of information. Though they may not get everyone, Cammy assured Chun-Li all the people who were following her had been dealt with.

Chun-Li and her family were safe.

Chun-Li looked up at the sky and the white clouds scattered about, reflecting on everything that just happened and being grateful it was over.

Well, unbeknownst to her, not entirely over. But in a good way.

As Mei was practicing, she looked up to see someone approach. She smiled.

Chun-Li was still looking at the sky when the person walked up to her.

“Excuse me?” Ryu asked her.

She gasped. Then smiled. She looked at Ryu. “Yes?”

He set his duffle bag on the ground. “I was wondering… how many students do you take on to train at one time?”

“Well… as many as I can handle, but my students are usually children, I’m sorry to say. Not much I can teach adults.”

“I don’t know about that.”

She turned in her chair to face him. “You seem to know quite a bit. You’re quite the legendary fighter, I hear.”

He chuckled. “A person can always learn more. Never stop learning, my master once told me. Be it martial arts or life lessons.”

“And what could I teach a world-class warrior like yourself?”

He shrugged. “What it’s like to stay in one place for longer than a few days, to have a home…” He stopped and swallowed, nervously, “…and to show someone who loves me… that I love her.”

Her eyes widened. She stood up, slowly, and stared into his eyes. “What makes you think I know anything more about that last part than you?”

He took hold of her hand. “Maybe we can learn… together.”

She tried to keep tears from falling but failed. “You really want to… don’t you?”

“Yes. I do.”

She lifted up on her toes to kiss him, only for him to meet her halfway. That surprised her but it was a welcome surprise. They kissed for a few minutes. They pulled back, Chun-Li stroking Ryu’s cheek with her thumb.

“You know you could’ve just come out and said ‘I love you’,” Chun-Li said.

Ryu chuckled. “Not exactly the easiest thing for me to come out and say.”

“That’s alright. You’ll just have to stay around here long enough to learn how to come out and say it.”

“I can do that.”

“So… how long can you stay?” Chun-Li asked.

“Hard to say,” Ryu answered. “How about… for as long as you want me here?”

“That could be a really long… _long_ … long time.” She smiled.

He smiled right back. “That’s just fine with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And there you have it, my friends! When I first did this story, I originally only planned to do this story. But the response was so strong, I turned it into a series. I'll be posting it the rest of it soon. The next set of stories will be a series of one-shots, followed by Hearts & Fists II. I'll explain more about that when we get there.  
> I don't profess to be an expert of Street Fighter timelines. I have a good grasp of them but this is more a timeline of my own creation. I base a lot of this off of the games (primarily "Street Fighter II") and the "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie" (one of my favorites). The later stories will touch on the other games but I'll explain as we go.  
> Thank you all for reading and be on the look out for the rest of "Hearts & Fists". As always, you can find my info on my other social media (all of that, you can find on my profile page) and, if you like my writing, my book "Tatsu Angelo: Ronin Days" is on Amazon. Thank you all so much and see you soon!


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